


Acceptable Losses

by Menirva



Series: A chemical mixture [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mind Control, Stark Spangled Banner - Freeform, Steve is a little dramatic snowflake sometimes, Steve's Pov, Which is a little skewed and a lot repressed, With a side of Pepper?, light d/s themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-30
Updated: 2012-09-08
Packaged: 2017-11-11 02:31:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 56,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/473497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menirva/pseuds/Menirva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post movie piece. Steve is at a loss with what to do with himself after the battle is over. He is a man out of time and a soldier with no current orders. He receives an offer of companionship from two unlikely sources. Things go either downhill or uphill from there depending on who you're asking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a rather large series I have brewing around in my brain. This first Arc is completed and the chapters will be posted as they are beta'd by my lovely girlfriend.
> 
> This is my first real attempt at writing something for pleasure in a very long time. Critique is very much appreciated as long as it is constructive and can offer me tips or feedback that will better enable me to improve myself!

What was he doing here? Where was here?

There had been so many miles traveled across pockmarked highways that rattled his teeth, gravel stretches that made even his modified muscles ache, muddied roads that caked onto his bike and clothes. He wasn't sure which small town he was in anymore; they'd all started to bleed together into a grimy mixture of undercooked diner eggs, cloudy cups of coffee, and lipstick streaked motel sheets.

He stared down into a questionable cup of murky tea because he simply could not stomach another diner's cup of "World Famous Coffee!”. When there was a destination in mind, mundane diners didn't feel so bad, rough hotel sheets didn't chafe quite so much, because in your mind you were going home. It was only a journey to a destination, a trial to endure, before you reached your goal.

But he had no destination in mind. He wasn’t heading anywhere, so there was only the endless journey where each passing day seemed to zap more of his energy and made him ache down to his bones. This was strange, because before this trip, it had been so long since his body ached in any way.

It did ache, though, in a way that made him for once feel his age of almost a century if one counted a chilly dip into the ocean for a few decades. He shifts his butt slightly on the stool to try and find a more comfortable position as he forces down a sip of his acrid tea. He watches as the soggy teabag bobs up and down, and then casts his glance across the diner, seeing only the same familiar unfamiliar faces that he found at every diner, all the patrons began to boil down into not faces but types.

The harried mother desperately shoving fish sticks into the gaping mouth of a toddler as her other children wreak havoc in the fashion of a mashed potato and pea war. A group of teens sprawled out across three booths, munching, their cell phones beeping and chirping relentlessly while they complained about their parents as they ate on their dime. Not so subtle hands scurried around under the table, up skirts or flitting lightly over denim jeans. Finally, there were the veteran truckers all at the counter with him. At most times, this was the quietest spot at any diner, and so he chose it. These were tired men with long drives ahead of them to places that weren’t home, and he almost felt a sort of kindred. He left them alone and they left him alone.

Except for right now, when they were all staring at him.

“Yer phone’s going off again. You gonna answer it, or ignore it all night like that, because it’s driving us all nuts.” His piece spoken, the trucker closest to him took another long sip of his coffee and slid off the stool to walk over to the restroom.

Steve blinked because something he’d long forgotten he had was a phone. He was surprised it still ran, for he had never charged it, nor did he own one for it. It had simply been slipped quietly into his hands by an un-judging Bruce, because Bruce of all people understood the need to run and would never stop him even as he looked at him with worried brown eyes and a face that was silently telling him he should stay.

He had just nodded and slipped it into his pocket, and then proceeded to do the same thing upon rising each morning without a second thought. It became part of his morning ritual, because what is a soldier without a need for order and ritual?

He fumbled, now, with the flat object for several moments as it cheerfully twinkled out the lines to The Star Spangled Banner, Tony’s idea of a joke, to be sure. He managed to flip open the lid and placed it to his ear.

“Hello,” he spoke into the tiny speaker. There was no questioning in his tone because there was no question about who it would be. There were only two possibilities and in calling him he had no doubt that those two were acting as one.

“Hey, pup. Are you ready to come home?”

Tony. The tone had only the shadow of his usual playfulness. It was a question asked with an earnest sincerity that most didn’t hear and few looked for in his voice, yet it was still firm, demanding an answer.

But it was an answer he felt he could not give even after all these months. His fingers twitched in a manner that unnerved him, and so he snapped the phone shut harshly enough to cause a nearby waitress to glance at him inquisitively. He forced a smile that didn’t quite spread to the rest of his face.

“I’m feeling tired and ready to head out, ma’am. Could I please get the check?”

She smiled at him, won over as so many were by his chivalry, and brought him back his check. In moments, he was back in the motel of the night, not even remembering the walk that took him there. He collapsed down onto the tired old mattress which creaked in protest. His hands brushed over his stubble as they journeyed up to his hair, raking through it to try to collect his scrambled thoughts. His breath left him in a steady, tired sigh as he remained still on the bed, not sleeping, but lost in thought and memory.


	2. Chapter 2

“You should come back to my place with us, Cap. We could use a good old fashioned guinea pig like you!” Tony grinned at him as he tossed Bruce’s bag into the back of his car.

It had all happened so fast, Loki’s capture, the cleanup of the city. Now everyone was suddenly parting ways. Thor teleported back home with his bound brother in tow, and Clint and Natasha left them sharing a look that told Steve that the two of them would not be parting ways anytime soon. It even looked like Bruce was taking Tony up on his earlier offer to take a trip through a scientific Candyland. Steve had looked on as he slung his pack over his shoulder and tried not to feel alone. These were his new comrades, whether or not they always got along did not change that they were some of the few people in the world who he could relate to, blessed and cursed with power.

He looked at Tony, surprised by the offer of connection from the last person he expected to give it. Wait, guinea pig?

Bruce gave him a smile, almost a grin, really, so far removed from the burdened man he’d seen only a few days before.

“Tony is right—”  
“Of course I am.”

Bruce ignored the interruption. “I honestly would be fascinated if I could run some tests on you. I know you went through a battery of them decades ago, but the equipment is so much more sophisticated nowadays. I’m sure you understand my interest, after all, in many ways you are the reason I’m even here.”

Steve had been tempted, it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go, but he wasn’t sure he felt like being poked and prodded after all they’d just gone though. So he left, but he promised Bruce he would come to them later for testing, in a month or two after some much desired R & R and, said with a glance at the other man, once he felt like he could handle another dose of Tony.

So he drove home to his small apartment and slept and slept, then slept some more for good measure. He thought that sleeping was something he would never look forward to again, not after his long freeze, but apparently fighting an army of aliens made for good encouragement in that area. After the sleep, though, he felt the same aimlessness set in that he had felt before the last mission. He tried to ignore it, but it gnawed at him, made his skin itch around his knuckles. He was a soldier without orders, no chain of command to follow, no comrades to battle beside. It made him feel weak. So he trained, he punched through bag after bag, mashing his knuckles against the smooth leather, trying to drive away the crawling he felt beneath his skin.

It was only after a month of broken punching bags that Bruce’s words suddenly ran through his mind, like someone had flicked a switch inside of it to trigger the memory. He wasn’t sure why he did it. Maybe Bruce had forgotten or lost interest. Heck, Bruce might not even be in the city anymore. The man wasn’t exactly known for staying in one place. Something drove him however, that desire to feel a connection had him packing that very day.

The building really was ridiculously ugly. Steve stared up at it with an amused chuckle. Tony really didn’t know how to be subtle about his wealth. It was funny, though, that the man had never gotten around to putting the “STRK” back in Stark Tower, even though he’d clearly rebuilt from the disaster. There was just an “A” there still, showy and superfluous, perfect for Tony, really. Steve walked towards the building and even in his distracted state caught sight of a woman as she struggled her way out the front door with a rolling luggage case as well as several other suitcases. The look of pure determination on her face was pretty impressive, actually. Steve wasn’t sure how she’d managed to even get them all out the door at once, but what he did realize what that the one balanced over her shoulder as she toed the door closed was quickly falling.

“Ma’am!” he called out as he dropped his own bag and dove forward to catch the falling case before it could crash down to the ground.

“Oh! My hero,” came the redhead’s quick response as she turned around, still holding the rest of the cases, to face him. Then recognition seemed to light in her eyes. It wasn’t the first time this had happened; many people had recognized him on the streets after the incident and had thanked him.

“My actual hero.” Her voice sounded a little more serious, and she smiled at him. It was a beautiful smile, actually, confident and Steve couldn’t help smiling back a little sheepishly as he clutched the suitcase.

“It’s no trouble ma’am, if you’ll just tell me where this needs to go.”

“Oh, Happy will get it. Happy!” She looked down across the street and Steve saw a man scrambling over. He quickly grabbed up all of the bags with practiced ease.  
“Sorry, Miss Potts, I was going to meet you in the lobby but traffic was being a nightmare.” The man smiled and Steve decided his name fit him.

“It’s no trouble at all, Happy. In fact it seems fortunate. I’ll be there in a moment.” She turned back to Steve and held her hand out to him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Captain Rogers. Tony and Bruce have been wondering when you could come around.”

Steve stared blankly at her but shook her hand politely, making a conscious effort not to accidentally squeeze her delicate fingers too hard. “I’m sorry, Miss Potts was it? Do you work for Tony?” he asked curiously, and then felt a little silly. She was exiting Stark Tower; of course she worked for Tony, and worked with him enough to be on first name basis.

She laughed lightly and released his hand. “If I didn’t know Tony so well, I would be offended that he never mentioned me to you.”

Oh, OH. Steve stammered slightly, not wanting to get Tony in trouble with his apparent girlfriend, but she waved her hand in front of his face quickly to stop him, an amused smile on her face.

“Don’t bother apologizing on his behalf. I’ve learned that Tony just doesn’t think about things like any other normal person would. I have to get going; I have a flight to catch. It was good to meet you, though. If you head inside, JARVIS will direct you to them.” She paused and gave him a look that he clearly wasn’t up enough on the 21st century to interpret. “I’ll be back in a month or so depending on how things go in Japan. Wish me luck!”

“Uhm… Good luck?” He blinked in confusion as she just confidently strode away from him and into a waiting limousine.

He entered Stark Tower feeling more than a little baffled now, but it felt a little silly to turn back. He tried to look casual as he walked into the cool air-conditioned corridor, his duffel bag slung nonchalantly over his shoulder. Just passing through here, just in case you might have need of me.

“Greetings, Sir. You are Captain Steve Rogers, I presume.”  
Steve craned his head around, trying to identify the calm, polite voice.

“There is no need for that, Sir. I am JARVIS. Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are on the top floor. The private elevator is directly to your left.”

“Thank… you,” Steve found himself speaking to the air in a confused manner as he made his way to the elevator which didn’t have any sort of buttons on the outside, it simply opened when he approached it.

“You are most welcome, Captain.”  
Steve couldn’t help doing a quick turn in the elevator as the voice followed him. He really would never get used to this future. He shook his head and waited as the elevator went up.

And up.

And up.

Goodness, the man really had too many floors. He shook his head and pictured what he would see on his arrival. No doubt he would be greeted by a clean room of pure white, beakers and electric implements everywhere. He grinned for the first time in a while as he couldn’t help but picture Tony in a pair of goggles and a ridiculous lab coat.

The scene that greeted him was very different than what was in his mind. In his mind, Tony and Bruce were most definitely clothed.

“Oh God, Tony…” the words slipped from Bruce’s lips with a breathless sigh.  
“Nnhn. Right there with you, big guy,” was Tony’s slightly strained response.

Steve stood in the elevator, slack-jawed and scarlet at the sight that was in front of him. Tony was pressed flat against the thick glass of the outer wall of the room, shamelessly mooning any nearby pigeons with his stark naked rump. Bruce was pressed just as tightly against Tony, his own forehead touching Tony’s as his hand grasped the two leaking, stiff members between them. His large hand seemed to envelop them with ease as he stroked and gave slow lazy pulls. A slow line of mingled fluids slid down the length of them and dripped onto the expensive carpet.

“You’ve REALLY got to learn to go faster,” Tony grunted and humped his hips hungrily into Bruce’s fist.  
“And you’ve really got to learn to slow down, my friend.” Bruce panted softly and it was clear he was watching Tony closely as his hand stroked.

“I’ll slow down when I’m dead, which I just might be if you don’t move any faster, dammit!”

There was a soft chuckle as Bruce relented. His hand quickened, his hips rocked to meet Tony’s as they worked to reach orgasm together. Tony, always in competition, let out a soft cry of pleasure, his hands digging into strong arms while his member splattered its load between them. Bruce was not long to follow, letting out a low ineloquent groan as his semen soon joined the already sticky mess between them.

Steve’s mind raced as he desperately tried to find the “close door” button on the elevator. He was desperate to get out of here before he was discovered. This was horrible, humiliating, to stumble over something so… debasing. Hadn’t he just met Tony’s GIRLFRIEND? This was immoral on so many levels and fields, something the two probably kept as a dark secret between them while poor Miss Potts, who seemed like such a pleasant dame, was away on business. He began to frantically push the button.

Let them not see. Let them not see him. Just let him leave.

“Steve?”

Steve stared at them as they stared back. The moment of silence was not surprisingly broken by Tony.

“Steve, you came! Awkwardly right around the same time we did!” Tony grinned at him, looking not at all as ashamed of himself as Steve thought he should.

Bruce laughed, the traitor, and quickly worked his pants back on, which was easy since they were still pooled around his ankles. Tony bent over, oh good gosh Steve wished he hadn’t, and picked up a long-forgotten robe, sliding it on and fastening it a little too loosely, if one were to ask him. Actually, he wished no one would ask him; he really just wanted to leave.

“Steve, I’m sorry about that, you kind of caught us—”

“With our pants down!” Tony proclaimed cheerfully.

Bruce elbowed him lightly. “Not where I was going, but yes.”

“Well if he’s here he’d know anyway, and you know how I like to make a good first impression.”

“I was just… just leaving,” Steve managed to choke out, and WHY wasn’t the elevator closing, and oh gosh why was Tony’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him inside the room.

And now the elevator finally chose to close, shlicking shut behind him and sealing his fate.

“Nonsense! We’ve been wondering when you’d show up.” Bruce smiled at him from the sink where he was, thank goodness, washing his hands, and not looking NEARLY as ashamed as he should be, either.

“Sure were! We even got you red, white, and blue sheets for your room!”

“Room? Well I just figured I’d—”

Tony laughed and waved his hand dismissively. “Shack up in some cheap motel somewhere? No way, you can shack up in a chic room, here, and if it’s too nice or high tech for you I’ll have an assistant toss some dirt around and you can paint cave symbols on the walls.”

Steve glared. “I’m not THAT old, Tony.”

“Of course not, no. Now do you have any special dietary needs? I can have the chef puree anything too tough for you to gum.”

“Why did I come here?” Steve found himself wondering aloud. He jumped as he felt a slightly damp hand come to rest lightly on his shoulder.

Bruce smiled at him calmly. “Because you were curious, and bored, and you needed some sort of connection in your life.”

Steve stared at him. “How…”

“Because we all felt like that after the cleanup, Steve.” Bruce gently gave his shoulder a warm squeeze.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I was just bored. Now, if you two are done being all touchy-feely, we can get started playing with science!” Tony declared happily.

Could it really be that easy? Maybe Tony figured Steve didn’t know about Miss Potts and so he couldn’t be expected to rat them out, but still, were they really all just going to ignore that Steve had witnessed the two men frotting against the window like horny teenagers?


	3. Chapter 3

Apparently, they were. In moments, Steve’s duffel bag was stashed away in a room that thankfully only sported silk black sheets on its bed, and the three of them traveled down the elevator several floors to where Banner had apparently appropriated most of the tools to form his own lab. From the banter between them, Steve pieced together that Bruce had a habit of “borrowing” tools from other floors with absolutely no intent to return them. Tony declared him a “hoarder of science,” at which Bruce just smiled unapologetically and led Steve to a table upon which sat a lone pair of briefs.

Briefs with the American flag plastered all over them.

“Tony!” Bruce glared over at the other scientist in disbelief. “I told you that was grossly unprofessional… I picked the Captain America ones out special.”

Steve sighed and rubbed his hand over his face to try and hide the slight reddening of his cheeks. Why did he do this again?

“He’ll just have to wear those tomorrow. C’mon, Cap, we need to get you all sensored-up to get some base readings.”

He sighed again and ducked behind the table to change. The briefs slid over his bottom and the band rested against his waist in a manner that meant that the size had been picked perfectly, which was more than a little disturbing. He looked up, relieved that Tony and Bruce were not taking advantage of “the show” at all and were actually giving him some privacy. They busily looked over lit up screens and picked out equipment instead. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to get him set up. Soon there were wires attached to him from head to toe as he lay stretched out on the table flat.

“I’m sorry today will be a bit boring, Steve, we’re mostly just monitoring for now. There are records from before, of course, but we’d like to take our own with the more advanced equipment,” Bruce said apologetically as his fingers glided over a nearby screen.

Steve almost nodded before he realized he probably shouldn’t. Instead, he watched the two of them work in silence. It was remarkable to watch them, really. They seemed to know exactly what each other wanted without any words passed between them. Tony would hand Bruce equipment before it was asked for or Bruce would slide it over towards Tony's work area. They would stand beside each other, making modifications to the screen without argument. Even Steve had to admit their science and sharing of it was like a strange but graceful dance between them. He relaxed slightly, knowing he was actually in very capable hands. Soon he found himself lulled into a sort of half-dozing state by the blips of beeps of the equipment surrounding him.

He drifted in and out through the first hour of testing. He listened to Tony banter a bit with Bruce for the second. By the third hour, though, he was beginning to feel antsy. His mind wandered and went to places he certainly didn’t care for it to go. It traveled to his old life, inevitably, to his time spend locked inside his own mind miles beneath the sea, and then regretfully to what he had witnessed happen between two men only a few hours ago.

It was… humiliating to think about. Steve knew how times had changed, how different things were now. He knew that men did… those things, and many now were even public about such relationships. He was from such a different time, though. He remembered it being whispered about with disgust, how men like THAT weren’t real men at all. They were perverted, something unholy in God’s eyes, and they were only with each other because they weren’t man enough to land a woman.

But these two, he knew they were far from “unmanly.” Tony could have almost any woman he wanted and Bruce, well, while one side of him might be mild he was still a far cry from feminine, and the other guy… well that was pretty obvious. What about this poor woman that Tony was with, as well? He knew that Tony had a reputation, but if he was really trying to ‘settle down’ by actually dating someone, how could he cheat on her, and how could Bruce be a willing participant in it? It didn’t make any sense at all to Steve no matter what angle he looked at it from. In fact it made him downright queasy.

So, why? How could they act so… perversely? Because even though he knew it was supposed to be ok now, his mind kept playing that word over and over in his head. Perverts. Perverse. Perversely.

Lovemaking was to be done between a man and a woman, love consummated on their wedding night. This was how it was done, he knew his comrades back in the day might hoot and holler about getting “lucky” with a girl, but with most of them it was just talk. No one REALLY wanted a loose woman, that’s not the girl you brought home to the folks and that’s what Steve had wanted, a good girl that he could treat right and who would treat him just as right. It’s what every man wanted.

So what drove them to go at each other so… animalisticly? Why was Banner standing behind Tony and slipping an arm around his waist as he looked over his shoulder at the computers readouts?

“Steve, this is great. We’re getting a lot of really great information, bio readings that can really give us a lot of information about the serum and your body’s capabilities.”

“And according to the readouts, you are STD-free!” Tony stated with mock excitement.

“Yes, there is that. We’ll be done here in about another hour. Do you think you can hold out that long?”

“Are you kidding? He is an EXPERT at being frozen still.” Tony grinned and walked over to the table. He gripped either side of the table beside Steve’s shoulders and leaned down into Steve’s face, crying out “BOO!”

And then Steve did something he immediately regretted and felt ashamed of.

He flinched.

Tony gave him a puzzled look and immediately pulled back from him, still keeping his hands braced on the table. “Maybe the old man could use a break.”

“No… I’m fine. I just wasn’t paying attention. I thought you were over there, still.” His stomach twisted slightly. He hated to lie. There was no way he could admit that he had just shyed away from Tony, though. His earlier thoughts of perversion left him feeling ashamed. These were his new comrades. He may not agree with their actions but they had earned his respect beyond any other men or women. They were of the bravest and strongest men he knew, and if they happened to not be flawless, well, he would have to accept that.

“If you’re sure, Steve, I’ll try to hurry it along.” Bruce looked over and gave him a friendly smile before quickly turning back to the computer screen.

Tony was not as easily turned away, though. He seemed to enjoy that he had possibly spooked Captain America. “Must be the old nerves acting up.”  
“I assure you that I’m just fine.”

“Oh, you old military guys and gals. Always pushing yourselves too far.”  
“Because you would never do that, Tony,” Bruce calmly interrupted while he looked over a readout.

“Always just far enough.” He flashed a grin down to Steve who stared up at him, holding back an uncomfortable squirm at their close proximity.

He felt much more helpless than he would like to admit, at the moment. If he moved now, he felt like he would be losing to Tony, and that was something he would avoid at all costs.

“But still I can ALMOST admire the dedication. All it takes is one order and you’ll obey the leader.” Another toothy grin and it was so obvious that Tony was trying to bait him as he continued to talk down to him. “Obedience like that is rarely found outside of puppy dogs and the BDSM community.”

Steve furrowed his brow at him. He might not have understood the second reference, but he certainly didn’t appreciate being compared to a dog.

“Let’s try it out, shall we!” Tony leaned down again, his nose practically touching Steve’s as he examined him, appearing upside down to Steve from the angling. Suddenly, his face contorted and he barked out sharply, “YOU THERE, SOLDIER, YOU WILL NOT MOVE UNTIL I GIVE THE ORDER! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, GRUNT!?”

Steve froze. His shoulders snapped into attention even as he lay back on the table. His spine locked straight into a proper position, even his breathing became steady and uniform. It was so automatic, it was almost horrifying. It had been a joke, just another of the thousands of jokes and snark that leapt from Tony’s mouth with rapid speed, but it had triggered some deep need in Steve’s mind. When he felt that order, something once out of place in his psyche clicked happily back into place. Order given, order obeyed, need met. He was barely able to snap his teeth shut with a click as a “Yes Sir!” threatened to spill from his lips.

Bruce was at the table in an instant staring down at him with Tony. “What did you do, Tony? The readings suddenly went absolutely crazy.” His voice was tinged with concern, curiosity, and just a little bit of excitement at the idea of some sort of crazy science unfolding before his eyes.

Even Tony looked surprised. His stared down at Steve’s stock-still form, which even now was holding its rigid posturing. “I have no idea… Something fun.”

“Fun? Look at him… Steve, come on, can you sit up?”

Steve wanted to sit up, willed himself to sit up, even, but it simply wasn’t happening. He’d been ordered to not move until Tony ordered otherwise. Good soldiers obeyed orders, was the thought quietly whispered in his head. He supposed he should feel panicked. He was locked in as tightly as he had been when he was frozen under the ice, but instead he felt… Calm.

The itch, the unpleasant crawling under his skin that had plagued him since he had had been thawed out, was simply gone.

Bruce was starting to look at him with concern as he leaned in to study him. He seemed to be going over in his mind the events that occurred only moments ago. His genius was practically glowing in his eyes as he went over every possible scenario for the situation. Suddenly, he looked up and over to Tony, his head tilted with curiosity as something seemed to register in his mind.

“Tony… Order him to get up.”  
“Uh, beg pardon?”

“You ordered him to not move until you lifted the order, so lift it.”

“You’re kidding.”  
“Just try it.”

Tony looked down skeptically and then shrugged. “Grunt! Order lifted.”

Steve gasped as suddenly his limbs loosened and seemed to belong to himself once again. He sprang up to sit quickly, spooked as he tore sensors from his arms and chest.

Tony and Bruce stared at him a moment before both reached to help pull wires off of him. Steve jerked himself out of their reach, managing to knock over an awfully expensive gadget in the process. He flinched as the piece crashed, something probably worth more than his body weight in gold. But Tony and Bruce didn’t even seem to notice it.

“Whoa there, Cap.”  
“Steve, it’s ok, we’ll figure out whatever that was. You don’t have to worry.” Bruce placed his hands placatingly in the air to calm him; ironically in the same fashion he himself probably saw many times when they were trying to calm HIM.

“Sure, we’ll figure out why I was just able to turn you into an action figure, no problem.”

Steve backed into a corner, taking several gulping breaths of air to try to calm himself. He just needed to calm down. These were his friends. Something was wrong, something was very wrong, but they would figure it out. He nodded to them, giving them a slightly apologetic look that was disregarded entirely.

“I’d say we’re definitely done here for the day, guys.” Bruce walked over, placing Steve’s clothes into his arms. “Get dressed; I’m sure you could use something to eat.”

“Doggie biscuits and kibble for being such a GOOD boy.” Tony grinned at him.  
“Actually, I was referring to the butter chicken I left stewing.”  
“Hey, even better!”

They were done talking about this? Steve had just obeyed Tony like a robot, and now they were discussing some sort of food? He marveled at how easily people from this time seemed to repress things. It was actually quite a blessing, right now, and a skill he hoped he one day picked up. He finished dressing and walked over to the pair as they waited for him at the elevator. Once the door shut with a soft swoosh, he felt the need to speak.  
“I’m very sorry… I—”  
“Steve, you have nothing to be sorry about. You think I don’t know what it’s like to lose control of one’s body?” Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It relaxed him slightly to realize that, yes, if anyone knew what he was going through, it would be Bruce. Bruce would never let this continue if he could stop it, and he would still be safe here.

“That’s not what I meant, though… I knocked over some of your equipment. It looked very expensive. If I can somehow replace i—”

He stopped and looked on in confusion as Bruce and Tony shared a glance and both started laughing boisterously. Bruce gave his back a firm pat.

“Steve… that was the coffee maker.”


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was a spicy, delicious affair. He was surprised to find that Bruce had prepared it himself, a recipe he had picked up in India, and one he found himself still often craving. They ate in a mostly comfortable silence, and if Bruce and Tony sat a little closer than just friends should, if when they passed the basket of naan back and forth their fingers always seemed to linger and touch each other, then Steve certainly wasn’t going to notice it at all. Maybe he was actually learning the secrets to this future’s ability to repress. 

Until there was kissing.

It was just a slight kiss, a light peck as Bruce leaned to pick up Tony’s empty plate and carry it to the sink. He watched as Tony pressed into it without a second thought. Their lips met briefly and then Bruce was at the sink, rinsing dishes. The commonality, the familiarity with which they kissed, like this was an easy acquaintance they shared, almost made it worse. It wasn’t animal, it wasn’t some secret perversion. It was intimate. He stared at them as he dragged a piece of Naan over the last bits of sauce on his plate.

Tony looked over at him and grinned, “Something wrong, Cap?”

“Tony, we talked about this,” came Bruce’s ever-intervening voice from the sink area. “He’s from a different time, a time where this sort of stuff wasn’t done.”  
“Might I remind you that YOU just kissed ME.”  
“Well…” A slightly guilty smile crossed his face. “I figured after what he saw earlier…” He walked back over to them and sat beside Tony.

And oh, gosh. This was bringing it up. This was talking about it. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from staring at them in disbelief. “How can you do that to her, Tony?” 

Both men looked back at him in confusion, so clearly they didn’t know what he knew. 

“Uh, Cap, Bruce is a male last I checked.”   
“Not HIM, HER, Stark. I met her, outside, when I was coming in. How can you do something like that?”

Bruce stood up quickly at that, and stared across the table towards Steve. “Wait, wait Steve, are you talking about Pepper?”

“Hah!” Tony laughed and clapped his hand down on the table. “Is that what he’s freaking out about? I thought it was the whole gay thing!”  
“This isn’t funny, Stark, It’s an AFFAIR!”

“No, wait, whoa, that’s rude. That’s really rude, to just assume that I’d cheat on Pepper like that, and that Bruce would be a willing partner in it.” Tony gave him a look that was annoyance with a little hurt mixed in under the surface. It made Steve feel bad, but he knew what he’d seen.

“Steve, Pepper knows about this,” Bruce said quietly as he sat back down with a calming breath.

“Knows and approves and loves to join in,” Tony added with a smug look as he crossed his arms and looked at Steve, clearly challenging him to say anything more about it.  
Steve started to tell Tony to knock it off, to be serious for once, but then he looked at them both, REALLY looked at them staring back at him, and there was that queasy feeling sinking back into his stomach when he realized they were both being serious right then.

“It’s unusual, but not unheard of to have open relationships, Steve,” Bruce spoke quietly. It was clear he was trying to be calm, rational, for Steve’s and safety’s sake, and it made Steve feel all the worse to be a challenge to the man’s control.

“Open?” he asked, meekly.

“Yeah, open. Me and Pep have got a contract signed, notarized, and everything, not that it’s any of your business,” Tony answered a bit coolly as he stood up and stretched. “She can’t be here all the time, why wouldn’t we want her to be able to enjoy herself while she’s away? She wants us to have the same fun, too. That’s called being in a good relationship.” Tony walked his coffee mug to the sink and let it clink down sharply before he strode out of the room. Steve was left staring after him in shock, alone now with Bruce who looked at him seriously.

“Steve, we both love Pepper very much. She is a very special person, and we wouldn’t do anything to harm our relationship with her.”

“I… I didn’t know,” was all Steve managed to choke out.

“Of course not. It’s not exactly something a lot of people understand, so we keep it quieter.” Bruce sounded understanding and reached across the table to pat Steve’s hand in a friendly gesture. “Don’t worry about Tony. He’s just a bit on edge. He hates when she has to go for long trips. He wouldn’t even bat an eye at this with her home.”

Steve nodded numbly at that. “I… I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, it really is. It’ll be fine by morning. Do yourself a favor and just don’t even mention it to Tony again, and for God’s sake don’t apologize, he gets uncomfortable and snarky as hell when people do that.”

Steve looked up and couldn’t help a little laugh at that when he saw Bruce smiling gently back at him.  
“I… ok, I really am sorry, though, to have thought…” He trailed off then shrugged a little as he stood. “I should go.”

To bed? Yes,” Bruce said firmly, even though it was clear that was not at all what Steve had meant. “We’ll see you in the morning. Do you remember where your room is? Jarvis can direct you if you get lost. Thank you again for coming, Steve.”

Steve nodded a little at that, and bid a hasty retreat to his room. One quick shower to scrub off and clear his mind, and he was in bed. Sleep claimed him rather quickly even though he’d spent most of the day lying down. As he drifted off, he couldn’t help but notice that sleep was coming faster, more calmly than it had in a long time.

/////

Was that a rooster crowing? Why was there a rooster crowing? He groaned and blindly reached over to slap off the noisy alarm by his bed stand.

Which wasn’t there at all.

He cracked an eye open, and looked over at the bare dresser. The shrill cawing of a rooster was still assaulting his senses.   
“…J-..JARVIS?”

The cawing mercifully stopped. 

“Good morning, Captain Rogers. Pardon Mr. Stark’s impeccable choice in morning alarms. He finds it quaint.”

Steve groaned at Tony’s idea of either a joke or revenge and rolled out of the bed.

“If you are awake, now, both Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are requesting your presence.”

Great. He rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. It felt late in the morning, later than he usually slept, to be sure, but he didn’t feel that sensation of oversleep that would keep him sluggish all morning. He quickly washed up and dressed and found the elevator with a more learned ease. He quickly rode up to Tony’s living level, desperately hoping that because they were EXPECTING him this time he wouldn’t receive another eyeful. 

He was grateful not to be greeted by flesh and panting. Actually he wasn’t greeted at all. Both men were standing in front of a panoramic view of many screens, displaying videos and information on, well, him. Some of the video footage was very recent. There were pictures of him working out in the gym (who had filmed that?), news footage of him during their recent battle, and there were even grainy black and white clips of him first testing out his new abilities and a… how on earth had they found that? There was a single black and white photo of him in his early teens, scrawny and grinning at the camera. 

He knew why it was happening, but he still couldn’t help feeling unsettled at being so… exposed. His entire life was displayed on computer screens. He watched as, with a graceful stroke of Bruce’s fingers, the teenaged image of him became a 3D model, laid out before them, right alongside another, much taller, model of his current form. He would never get over new technology and its capabilities. Seeing his old form in 3D made him feel even more awkward, almost like he was once again that gangly teen, full of heart but nothing to back it up. He’d so desperately wanted to do his part, to be part of the fight, to take orders, to get rid of that frail boy that he had been willing to play test subject to get his desires.

He cleared his throat to gain their attention, or perhaps to draw it away from his past. Both heads turned towards him as he walked over to them, making an effort not to go anywhere near anything glowing, beeping, or well… science-ing.

“Have we learned anything?” he asked. He glanced at Tony and almost, ALMOST apologized, but remembered Bruce’s words and opted to pretend the entire thing hadn’t happened. Look, Steve Rogers was learning to repress just as well as everyone else in the 21st century.

Bruce picked up a tablet and held it up to show him the readings and notes that meant less than nothing to him. “Good morning, Steve, we’ve been going over most of the information this morning… and, well, we’ve come up with some theories as to what happened last night to make you go so—”  
“—Ready to bark at me for a doggy biscuit.” Tony smirked, as usual completely unaffected by the glare Steve gave him.

Bruce shook his head slightly and continued, “Have a seat, we’re going to go over some theories with you and see what you think.”

Steve let himself be lead to the nearby couch, slowly sinking down into it. There was a loud woosh beside him as Tony flopped back and propped his feet up on the table to lounge. Bruce sat down on the opposite side of him, still holding the tablet, and somehow just like that he was sandwiched between them. Bruce leaned and his shoulder just barely touched against Steve’s. Tony’s thigh was firmly pressed against his own. Beyond fighting, it was the most human contact he’d had in quite some time, and he honestly didn’t know how he felt about it. Part of him wanted to stand up quickly and move to the nearby chair, but another part relaxed. These were fellow soldiers, it was important to be close to them.

“So, what are your theories on me?”

“Well, the first, you were tired and a bit, well flustered yesterday. You’d been lying down for hours and just listening to the sounds of the machinery running. That could have lulled you into a more trancelike state which led you to be very open to suggestion.”

“Bruce, are you saying I was hypnotized?”  
“Not in the outlandish sense. Hypnotism can’t make you do anything that would go against your own morals. It just made you open to suggestion, and when Tony gave you an order you followed it.”

Tony let out an overemphasized yawn. “It’s honestly the most boring of the three theories we didn’t throw out yet. Tell him numero due. I want number three.”

“Number two… Well, this one would be a bit trickier. There could be something that was in the serum that forced you to obey the order Tony gave, a mechanism built in in case a subject got, well, out of hand—”

Steve shook his head vehemently at that. “There’s no way. If that could happen, I would have had to follow the orders SHIELD put out for me. I wouldn’t have found their weapons stash.”

“Ah, but Bruce thought of that as well, and has a hypothesis. He was really excited about it, too.”

“Well…” Bruce paused, seeming to be collecting his thoughts to explain them in a way that would be understandable to someone other them himself or Tony. “There’s a chance Dr. Erskine didn’t know entirely know what he was doing when they built the mechanism into the serum. It’s not unthinkable that he would do it though, given how the first administration went. It would be tricky though. If he designed it so that you would just follow orders, where would that leave them? You would be a robot ordered around by anyone. To be effective it would have to make you follow orders from very specific people. Perhaps it was built in that you would only follow orders from someone in a higher position of authority than you, or someone who you trusted, or perhaps both.”

“A position of AUTHORITY?” Steve looked at Bruce blankly. Surely he couldn’t think that Steve felt that Tony had any authority over him whatsoever. 

“Well…” Bruce cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Authority can mean many things… Perhaps the most basic of these is that authority is found when someone is stronger than the other.”

“Oh! You didn’t tell me that! Why, Steven!” He smacked his hand firmly over Steve’s thigh, making him jump. 

Bruce chuckled. “Don’t get too excited, it IS just a theory. We really have no evidence of it, yet.”  
“And I most certainly do NOT think you’re stronger than me. Get over yourself!”

He hated that Tony didn’t even bother answering him verbally. He just grinned. That grin that said, “I know what you just said was a flat out lie.” It wasn’t really, though. Without his suit, Tony wasn’t stronger than he was… it was just that while he was in it, Steve did feel outmatched in some ways. He had his shield and strength but Tony, well, he could FLY, he had lasers and other countless pieces of weaponry, constantly changing weaponry thanks to his expertise, at his disposal. It couldn’t help but make him feel just slightly less adequate, which was something he would NEVER tell the showboater. 

Bruce was kind enough to interrupt, “We don’t even know if that’s what is going on. It’s a real possibility, though, which is why we’ve been looking over as much of your old records as we can for possible clues. Tony and JARVIS were very helpful in the breaking and entering of the old files and information.” 

“You were a cute, scrawny, little thing weren’t you, Cap?”  
“He did have a certain boyish charm. It still shows a bit.”  
“Same eyes, it’s just the package that got bulked up.”

Steve blinked. Cute? Charming? His eyes? He wasn’t sure if he was getting complimented or insulted at the moment, and neither one made him comfortable. Then again, what really did make him comfortable, anymore? What if he really was being controlled by the serum, if he could be made into a robot by so called “higher authorities?” The thought was very chilling.

“You said there was a third idea?”

Steve gasped. Suddenly Tony was on top of him in one fluid movement. His legs easily shifted to straddle Steve’s and he gripped two fistfuls of his shirt as he leaned into Steve’s face. 

“Number three,” he said in a low, sultry tone, “is that the whole reason you wanted to get into the military to begin with is because you WANTED to follow orders. You like being controlled and told what to do.”

His hands flew up and he shoved Tony off of him with enough force that he flew over into the couch opposite of theirs. He clearly wasn’t injured, though, because he was too busy laughing. Laughing at Steve’s expense.

“Tony! Steve!”

“Keep off of me! I don’t know why you think you’re always so darn funny, Stark. You don’t get to just… just, climb on me like that and make up wild stories!” He stood up, spooked.

Bruce, always the peace maker, was up with him in an instant. “Steve, it’s ok. Tony is just being… Tony. We really need to talk about this, ok?”  
“Fine. Then tell me what the third theory is.”

Bruce blinked in surprise, and Steve’s heart sank.  
“You can’t be serious. That really is one of your theories? That I’m just some pervert? That my whole life is how it is because I’m some sort of freak?”

“Whoa, whoa.” Tony sat up on the other couch quickly. “NO one say freak, Cap.”  
“Or pervert,” Bruce helpfully supplied. 

Tony stood up to look at him seriously, so much more seriously than he ever looked. “Now I know things were all hush-hush back in the golden age of Nazis and gals that were never seen without their nylons, but it’s a whole new fucking world, captain. Guys are making it with other guys and girls with others girls. Hell, there’re entirely new genders out there in the open that were never talked about in public before. On top of that, people are starting to finally get that people have NEEDS, Steve. Needs that might just be different than other people, but that doesn’t make them freaks, or perverts. It just means they’re a bit different. I was mad yesterday, yeah, pissed, but fuck, when I thought about it, of course you couldn’t have thought anything else. You’d never learned anything else.” 

“He’s right, you know… there are entire communities about that kind of, well, desire. It’s not something to be ashamed of anymore, Steve.”

He couldn’t believe his ears. How could they even be discussing this like it was actually a plausible option? 

“That is NOT what’s going on here. It’s not that.”  
“Denial is never a pretty thing.”  
“Tony, he’s upset.”  
“No, I’m just fine. Fine and normal.”

Both raised an eyebrow at him.   
“…As normal as a superhero can be. Now, as far as I’m concerned, you only have TWO theories. What do you need to do to test them?”


	5. Chapter 5

Steve was still reeling a bit from the earlier conversation as they made their way back to the lab. It was insulting. Perhaps it was mostly insulting because they didn’t realize just how insulting it actually was. That he actually DESIRED such a thing. He wasn’t weak. He was strong, one of the strongest people in existence now. He wouldn’t ever be that weak little boy again. He thought of Loki’s words in Germany that “humans were made to be ruled.” How could they think he would ever agree with such an idea?

He was back into briefs again, reluctantly the Captain America ones Bruce had apparently picked out. He would have preferred just his own plain white ones, but he had the feeling that if he insisted, he would have been goaded by Tony into changing, anyway.

It was quieter than yesterday, less banter between the two scientists as they set up shop. Tony stepped out to go grab another unidentifiable thing-a-ma-bob while Bruce strapped countless sensors onto Steve yet again.  
“Steve?” He paused in his work.  
Steve looked up into Bruce’s eyes as he looked down at him.

“Tony may be a bit… unsubtle when he speaks, but that doesn’t mean he’s not right. Those sorts of things are more common, now. Domination, submission, it can be done for fun or as a lifestyle choice.”

 

Steve stared at him, wishing he wasn’t hearing this, but unable to look away. Bruce was always so polite and earnest. Who had treated him with patient kindness the night before when he’d basically insulted his honor? It would be rude to not give him his attention when he actually asked for it.

“So don’t think that there’s ever anything wrong with you. We’re all different here, Steve. You, Tony, Pepper, me, the other guy, him especially.” He smiled a little at that. “Whatever this is, we’re here. Tony and I are here with you and we’ll see you through it as a team.”

He looked away as Bruce finished attaching sensors. His chest felt a little warm even though he happened to know that Tony kept the building at a never-changing 73 degrees. There was a firm squeeze on his shoulder. This time he felt calloused fingers against his bare flesh and somehow that calmed him more even though Steve couldn’t explain why, and Tony was back in the room before he could think about it any further.

The plan was to go through each theory one by one, starting with hypnosis. Bruce explained that they were going to recreate the conditions they had experienced the day before. However, instead of Tony giving a command, they’d arranged for Jarvis to give it instead, thereby if the order was followed, it lent credence to the idea that Steve had been lulled into a state of high suggestibility.

Steve didn’t see how he was going to get back into that sense of relaxation as before, not knowing what they were going to be testing, but Bruce assured him that they had his bio-readouts from the day before and if he just relaxed they would know if he reached the same state as the day before.

It took forever to relax back onto the table, but perhaps not as long as he feared. For having done almost nothing the previous day or that morning, he found it surprisingly easy to relax and listen to the machinery click and whir as he had the day before. Bruce and Tony said nothing, not wanting to risk snapping Steve out of any sort of state he might be slipping into. Tony instead worked on another project and Bruce thumbed through a thin, worn looking novel, occasionally checking on Steve’s information on the screen.

He drifted in and out, and was pretty sure he almost fell asleep for a few moments. His mind wandered again, the picture of his earlier self flashing in his mind. He had been so weak and picked on, but that never stopped him from diving into a fight at a moment’s notice. There had been so many foolish fights that started with the words “Why don’t you make me?” spilling from his lips.

What if that had been what he’d really wanted all along? Someone to MAKE him.

“PRIVATE STEVEN, YOU WILL BE STILL!” A cultured sounding voice suddenly shouted, breaking him out of his thoughts.  
He jumped, and after a moment’s pause, laughed. JARVIS couldn’t not sound civil even when he had been told to shout. Still, a command had been delivered, and what? Nothing. He felt no need to be still. He looked over at Bruce and Tony who were watching him and sat up to emphasize the point.  
“Thank you, Jarvis! You’re becoming quite the scientist.”  
“You are most welcome, Mr. Stark.”

“Well…” Bruce looked over the screen, seeming to be confirming his information. “You were certainly in the same state as before; it seems that didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Tony clapped his hands in delight. “MY test turn, then.”  
“I don’t think I really want to know what you have pla—”  
“YOU PIPE DOWN, BOY! NO ONE GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!”

His mouth shut with a click, so fast he almost bit his tongue in the process. His eyes bulged as he spun around to stare at BRUCE of all people, in disbelief. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but his words seemed to die out before they left his lips.  
“Nice going, buddy! You were meant to be a drill sergeant!”  
Bruce ignored Tony and walked over to Steve. He felt his warm dry hand cup his chin and tilt his head up so he was forced to look into Bruce’s curious eyes.  
“I’m sorry, Steve, we thought it best if the order was a surprise. Can you speak?”

He quickly shook his head, trying to pull out of Bruce’s grasp.  
“Steve, hold still.”

His movements ceased.

“Oh… oh I wasn’t trying to… I’m sorry. You can move, Steve, you can speak.”  
He jerked away quickly, rubbing his chin to rid himself of the sensation of Bruce’s fingers.

“What’s happening to me?” He tried, he really did, but he couldn’t keep the slight falter out of his voice. This was like nothing he’d ever experienced, it was new and scary and he had absolutely no control over it.

“We’ll figure it out, Steve, Tony and I will figure this out, I promise.”

“I… I need to be alone, ok?”  
“Of course. How about you go work out at the gym. Get some exercise and clear your head a bit, ok? We’ll be upstairs.” Bruce was already backing away to give him the space he’d asked for.

“Unless you want me to join you for a couple rounds there, Cap. You can be alone and spar at the same time, right?” Tony handed him his clothes, seeming unfazed by what just happened, and why should he be? This wasn’t happening to him. He hadn’t had his entire world turned upside down.

He knew it was poor form, but he would have actually really liked to have punched Tony right then. So he found himself nodding in agreement.  
“Great, I’ll meet you down there and you can show me some of those keen old-timey moves.”

Bruce looked like he wasn’t sure if that was the best idea, but he didn’t argue. He just told them he’d be working on things back in their bedroom.

Their bedroom, all three of them? Steve couldn’t even process that at the moment. He went back to his room and changed into a grey t-shirt and soft brown cloth shorts to work out in, then followed JARVIS’s directions to the exercise rooms.

The room was huge; it made his little gym feel absolutely inadequate. Some of the stuff he was scared to even touch. There were electronic dummies for sparring, since when did those need to be run by electricity? He was glad to see that the far corner of the room had clearly been set up for good, old fashioned sparring. The walls were lined with padding, and there was thick matting on the floor to cushion falls. He walked over to it, performing some quick stretches and warm up moves. He may have been super powered, but he’d just been immobile for the past few hours and he wanted to make sure he was ready for when Tony showed up in his iron suit.

Only Tony wasn’t in his iron suit when he showed up. In fact, beyond the ever-present arc reactor in his chest, there wasn’t a scrap of metal or other technology on him. He was simply dressed in a tight black sleeveless top and matching athletic shorts.

“Where’s…”  
“What? You thought I was going to get all dressed fancy for this?”

“Well I could… injure you.”  
Tony tilted his head slightly at him, and then chuckled. “Yes, you could. So could a random earthquake, but you I’ll bank on to be more careful. Ready?”

“But…”  
“Look, you don’t have your shield either, do you?”  
“Well, no, but I have—”  
“Bottled super strength? I know. I don’t expect to win here, Cap. I’m just looking for some exercise. I trust you not to take it too far.”  
Steve nodded dumbly. He really would never understand Tony. He sometimes wondered why he even kept trying.

It was a good thing Tony wasn’t expecting to win; he would have been severely disappointed. They sparred for hours, Steve pulling most of his punches and fighting at a lesser strength, but he still felt himself relaxing, exerting a good amount of energy because Tony was one of those people with persistence. Steve would pin him to the ground and in moments he would spring back up ready for another round, and, surprisingly, having actually seemed to learn something about his opponent from the last. It meant that even though they were both tired and sweating near the end of their fighting, Tony was somehow doing better than he was when they first started out. It was almost nice. It was a good challenge, not something overwhelming and terrifying like what they had previously faced together. This was safe exertion, good clean fun.

The fact that Tony was actually quiet for the better part of it didn’t hurt matters.

Unfortunately for Steve, as they neared the end of their rounds Tony learned that his talking proved to be an excellent distraction tactic, the more uncouth the better.

“When was the last time you got laid, Cap?” It was asked so casually it took him by surprise, and let Tony get in a punch to the ribs. He’d ignored him and pressed on.

“So would you rather like to know what he’s like in bed, or what she’s like?” was a question that caused him to miss a well laid out punch and stumble forward slightly.

“Tony, would you stop that and just fight!”

“Gotta use whatever I can, don’t I? You need to learn to lighten up.”

“I’m ‘light’ enough! Can you please just stop treating IT like it’s a game, a joke, something to treat lightly?”

“What, fucking?”

“TONY.” He pulled back and away from him, no longer desiring to engage him.

He was met with laughter. “You really do have it all locked up tighter in there than Bruce, don’t you? I thought people from your time were at least doing it on the sly.”  
“I’m sure SOME were engaging in such actions, but I certainly wasn’t. I had my DUTY to uphold.”

Tony paused. “Cap… are you actually a virgin?”

Steve bristled and turned away, because the last thing he wanted to do was answer that question. “Stop it, Tony just STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!” He felt himself shouting and he hated it, hated that Tony managed to reduce him down to anger and frustration so easily.

“Hey, no way. You turn your ass back around and answer me!” Tony ordered.

Steve spun around on his heels to face him.  
“Yes, sir.”

They both stared at each other for a long silent moment.

Then Tony smirked and tilted his head with inquisitive look. Steve felt his heart leap up into his mouth.  
“Come here, whelp.” His voice was firm, commanding. It was an order, and Steve to his horror felt himself obeying it. He closed the distance between them to stand in front of Tony, and even though he was taller, stronger, he felt so small in front of him, that weak little boy once again.

Tony smiled. It wasn’t a mean smile, Steve knew he wasn’t doing this to be cruel, but his curiosity was driving him on. He felt himself look into his eyes and plead silently with him to let this go.

“Kneel down, pup.”  
That same firm tone led Steve to sink down to his knees in an instant. He clenched his eyes shut and balled his fists because at that moment he was on his knees in front of Tony, and the sexual innuendo in this position did not escape even him. He’d caught a glimpse of the slight tenting in Tony’s shorts on the way down, it made him dig his nails into the flesh of his palms at the thought of what Tony could order him to do, and he braced himself, because he was helpless now. He was prey. He knew it, Tony knew it.

“Pup… Relax, breathe.” The sudden change of tone was gentle, so much more gentle than he thought Tony was capable of. He jumped and sucked in a deep breath of air as he felt fingers stroke through his hair. They firmly rubbed over his scalp, easing out the tension there. Down those fingers traveled, from his scalp to his ear where a single digit traced lightly over the outer shell of it. It made him shudder slightly. In the moment, that feather light touch felt more intimate than any kiss he’d shared with a woman. The tension in his shoulders loosened as the hand petted lightly, and with clear affection, first over one, then stroked over his back to the other. It cupped the back of his neck and guided his slackened body to lean against Tony, mercifully not against his front, but his side where the hand then slid back into his hair, fisting a handful of it and pulling back lightly so that Steve’s neck was forced to arch back as well, his throat exposed and vulnerable. It also made it so he had to look up into Tony’s eyes as the other man stared down at him.

He expected to see snark or smugness in Tony’s features from being able to get Captain America on his knees with nothing more than an order, but instead he simply looked down at him with the sort of face one might make to soothe a spooked animal, gentle and comforting. The touches, his eyes, they made Steve’s whole body feel loose, like every tight super-powered muscle in him had been slowly unwound. He gave in to the feeling and sagged against Tony more even as their eyes remained locked together.

“Feel better now, Pup?”

He managed a slight nod, one that made his hair tug slightly from Tony’s fingers.

“Good. You looked about to snap, if you were Bruce, I’d have been checking you for green.”

He looked up at him in confusion.

“I do this for him sometimes, if he gets worked up.” He shrugged slightly. “Thought it might help you out, a little.”  
As if it were as simple as that, as if Tony petting him like a puppy, even calling him one, was a friendly gesture, like getting him to try out the ‘yoga’ he was hearing so much about.

“You were scared though, Steve. Scared of what? That’d I’d make you do something naughty?” His voice has its teasing tone back to it, but his eyes were concerned, perhaps even a little hurt. “Do you really think I’d force you?”

Steve looked away, because he couldn’t seem to keep eye contact when Tony had that look in his eyes.

His hair was ruffled, a light affectionate gesture.  
“You’re a wreck, pup.”  
Steve finally managed to make words come out of his mouth again. “Stop calling me that.”

He received a slight tug on his locks at that, nothing painful, but enough to make him suck in another breath and cast his eyes upward again.

“You are a pup. You’ve always been one. I can tell, Steve. This isn’t some security measure, this is you, a longing you’ve had inside of you since before you were remade with stripes and sparkles.”

 

Tony crouched down, still holding his hair, leveling himself so they were face to face. “You’ve always wanted someone to hold you down, make you listen, make sure you’re a good pup. Your body just isn’t listening to your brain’s denials anymore.”

Tony’s hand released him with a final hair ruffle. He stood and placed a hand on the small of his own back, rubbing with a grimace.  
“Ahh, shit, I need some IcyHot. I’ll see you at lunch.”

And like that, he was gone, and Steve was left alone, still kneeling. Wondering how he could have been so wrong about everything, and how his life could ever have come to this.


	6. Chapter 6

In fact, he didn’t see Tony at lunch, or Bruce for that matter, because he spent lunch holed up in his room, under his blankets. It felt so childish, like he was hiding from the boogeyman, but he didn’t know where else to go. He thought about grabbing his duffel bag and making for a hasty retreat, but realized he wasn’t even sure where his bike had been put or how to retrieve it. And to find out either of those things meant talking to Tony or Bruce, and he was just not ready to handle that yet.

So he ignored JARVIS politely informing him that lunch was being served, and curled up more. His mind was everywhere, going over every memory of his life he still had access to, trying to find hints, trying to discover if Tony was actually right, if he had had this… debasement inside of him all along. His body, however… his body was relaxed, almost at peace. When his mind wasn’t focusing it replayed the feeling of a warm firm grip on the back of his neck, the tugging of hair to pull him into place, and Steve could feel the ghosting of fingers still along his ear. It was maddening.

So he skipped lunch. He skipped the entire afternoon. He would have loved to have skipped supper and then possibly the remainder of his life, but by now his stomach was ravenous. He felt gnawing hunger reminding him that super muscles require super calorie intake to fuel them. He finally sat up, still in his now rumpled sparring clothes, sweat dried to his skin and hair sticking this way and that. He considered showering, but his stomach gurgled loudly, seeming to protest the very thought of waiting one more minute before it received food. He took a deep breath and left the sanctity of his temporary room and forced himself to make his way to Tony and Bruce’s living quarters.

And there they were, seated together on the couch, feet propped up, Bruce with an arm wrapped around Tony’s shoulder. Tony was leaning into his embrace, a hand lightly stroking along the other scientist’s thigh as they half watched the news together, half just enjoyed the cozy environment they had created on the couch. The air was fragrant with the scent of what must have been a late lunch, and to his great embarrassment Steve’s stomach rumbled anew.

Bruce glanced over towards him and smiled. “We were wondering where you got to. I’m sorry we didn’t wait up.”

“He gets cranky when he’s hungry. All of New York should be grateful I wouldn’t let him wait longer,” Tony added with a chuckle, giving Bruce’s thigh a pat.

“The rest is on the counter, please help yourself.”

Steve nodded quietly and piled a plate high with fragrant rice and some sort of spicy fish curry. Forgoing manners for the sake of quieting his stomach, he didn’t wait to sit and eat. He was already spooning the spicy mixture into his mouth as he walked over to the pair.

“See? I’m not the only one with an appetite, Tony.” Bruce smiled and Steve couldn’t help smiling slightly back, in spite of the morning, because the smile was so genuine. It made him feel like everything just might work out ok, eventually.

He gulped down more food and took a seat, wisely on the chair this time to avoid any sort of awkwardness. He watched TV with them, and if he could just ignore what had happened that morning, ignore the way that Tony’s hand sometimes stroked just a little too far up Bruce’s thigh, then he could almost call the moment peaceful. He was content to let it continue through the news, two more plates of curry, a tall glass of milk, and a made for TV movie that Tony heckled most of the way through, at which Bruce would just smile and give him an affectionate look every now and then. He felt himself relaxing back into the chair, his plate long since set aside.

“Did you get enough, Steve? You skipped breakfast and your files mentioned a severely increased metabolism.” 

“Yes, it was very good, thank you.” The sincere concern in Bruce’s tone was endearing.

“Of course, I really don’t know what you like, if you had any requests…”

“Oh no, what you’ve made is very good, very different than what I’m used to, but really good.” He reassured him because it was the truth. Food wasn’t exactly a fancy affair when he was growing up. During his childhood, when so many people were starving from the great depression, his favorite was generally just “enough,” so the spicy dishes he’d been treated to so far had been quite delicious. It was nice of Bruce to be so concerned about him, though. He was so different than Tony, it made him wonder how the two of them had even gotten together to, well, do the things they do, even with a mutual interest in science and a woman involved. Tony was so… well, abrasive, cocky, and the most annoying part about it was that he had every right to be. 

What had happened earlier with him had been… strange, and humiliating. Steve suddenly couldn’t help but wonder what Bruce would think if he knew about it. Would it upset him? What about Miss Potts? Would that have been considered going behind their backs on Tony’s part? Steve had no idea what the exact parameters of their relationship were, and he certainly had no interest in such a thing, but Tony’s hand had been so intimate. If he had himself a gal and saw her touching someone like that behind his back, it would have been over. This upset him. Why would Tony have done it? Even if he didn’t agree with what was going on, Steve would never want to hurt any woman, and, honestly, it would be outright stupid to make Bruce angry.

“Steve? We’re still going to look into what happened more, just so you know. There might be some paperwork that wasn’t converted to computer format. It’s not uncommon for files to get lost in the system that way. We’re working on finding a paper trail and any documents that might have been misplaced or withheld.”

“I’m telling you that that would be a huge waste of time. After how he was in the gym, there’s not a doubt in my mind that this has nothing to do with the serum.” Tony winked, yes, WINKED at him from the couch, giving Bruce’s leg a squeeze before he sat up more. “He was such an obedient little pup.”

Steve froze and stared at him as he could feel his heart rate climb. His eyes immediately went to Bruce’s, and he found no surprise in them. How could Tony have told him what happened? He felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and to his horror he realized he was quite visibly blushing.  
Bruce just smiled at him. “Tony, you can’t base an entire theory on your gut instinct. That is far from scientific.”

“You have to see him, though. It’s so obvious!”  
Then Tony was grinning, and Steve’s heart sank because he could tell an order was coming, and he hated it. He hated the way his ears practically perked, and the way his muscles tensed in preparation to fulfill it.

“Come here, pup. Now. Come lay yourself out over me and Uncle Brucey’s laps,” came the order; jovial, but firm.  
If Tony could see the sense of betrayal with which Steve was staring at him, he wasn’t showing it. He simply patted his lap invitingly.

Steve looked desperately to Bruce, even as he felt himself standing. “Bruce, please don’t let—”  
“Aht, c’mon, pup, you can talk when you’re settled in on your belly.”

His jaw clenched and he felt himself bending over, laying himself out over their laps. He tried to arrange so only his upper body was against them, but the couch simply wasn’t long enough to accommodate. He let out a light grunt and was forced to scoot up further and further until his belly was pressed into Tony’s legs, his pelvis unfortunately pressed into Bruce’s lap. Tony grabbed a pillow and laid it out for him so that he could turn his head and face out towards the television. 

“There we go, ain’t he a keeper?”  
“TONY, what are you doing?” he hissed out the second he was settled enough to speak again. 

“Relaxing. Besides, only I got to pet the puppy earlier.”

He gasped as he felt a large hand press lightly into the small of his back, bigger than Tony’s had felt.

“Bruce, please—”  
“It’s ok, Steve, just relax.”

He felt Bruce’s hand rubbing little circles into the muscles of his back with just enough pressure from his fingertips to coax them into loosening.

“Told yah, what a good pup.” He felt Tony’s hand back at his hair, carding through it.   
“I’m telling you, this is all him, here.”

“Shh, don’t stress him.”  
“Bruce, please… please.” If he had any hope of getting through to either of them, it would be to Bruce. “Why? Let me get up…”

“Shh, Steve.” There was more rubbing, up his spine, fingers digging into the muscles there, too, working out kinks he didn’t know he had until they were gone. “If anyone here knows how important it is to calm down and relax, it’s me, isn’t it?” He could feel the smile in Bruce’s voice even though his couldn’t see it from the angle he was lying at.

“I can’t. I can’t just lie here like this! It’s wrong!”  
“Nothing wrong at all with it, pup. Lots of puppies sprawl out on their masters’ laps while they watch TV.”

Steve bristled. “If you think for one second that you are my MASTER, Tony…”  
“That’s enough, both of you. I’m trying to relax and I don’t like you both arguing.”

That silenced them both, leaving Steve to stew in his sense of mortification. Tony’s hand still stroked through his hair as he used his other hand to channel surf lazily. Bruce was still rubbing up and down his spine, and Steve was not ok with any of it. He wasn’t ok with how warm he was feeling pressed against their bodies, or with how his own body had molded into theirs so easily. How every few strokes Tony managed to brush his fingertips over his ear, or with how Bruce’s hand had slipped slightly up the hem of his shirt so he could rub his thumb directly over the base of his spine in a way that made his body melt. He wasn’t ok, and he didn’t understand how they could be doing this to him.  
Tony finally settled on some sort of historical documentary on weaponry, which Steve had to begrudgingly admit was something he would find fascinating in any other circumstance. Even now, he felt himself being distracted by it from the situation. Halfway through the show, still being stroked and petted, he felt his eyes drooping. By the time the credits were playing, they were closed, and he was nearly asleep.

“Looks like the big fella is going down for the count,” he heard Tony say softly above him, but his voice seemed far away even as he felt that hand in his hair.

“I still don’t know how I feel about this. He seems so upset.”  
“He’s from a different time, Bruce. He needs to get with THIS time or he’s never going to feel like he belongs here, or anywhere.”  
“It feels like we’re trapping him… You know how I feel about that.”  
“And you know beyond making him relax a bit we won’t be forcing him to do anything else. We agreed.”

They agreed? Steve thought to himself blearily. But that was all his brain could process before he slipped off into a nap.

When his eyelids fluttered open, he felt strange, warm and strange. It took a few moments to register where he was. The TV screen still glowed on in front of him, but now it was settled on what looked to be an opera of some sort. There was a light snoring sound beside him and by the still hand in his hair he was guessing it was coming from Tony.

“Are you awake?”  
Steve nodded slightly. There was no point in faking slumber. He couldn’t believe he’d managed to fall asleep to begin with.

“Steve… I just want you to know we’re not doing this to hur—”  
“Yeah, I heard.” He focused with great intensity on the TV, bitterness bubbling up a bit inside of him that they both thought this was ok. That doing this was somehow GOOD for him.

“Then you know why we’re doing this, Steve.”  
“I know why, I just can’t believe you, of all people, would.”

“You have to look at this from our perspective, Steve… We see you. We see the real you, probably better than anyone else. You’re hiding, and you’re lonely, and you need family.”  
“You don’t KNOW what I need, Bruce!”  
“You need somewhere you can be yourself, Steve. Where you’re not hiding, where you’re not Captain America, where you’re Steve Rogers and you don’t have to be the strong one or the one calling the shots. This is somewhere you can be yourself. Believe me, I know that. You’re not… exposed here, Steve. It’s private, quiet.”

He felt Bruce’s hand rub lightly up his back. “I found peace here, Steve. I want you to be able to find yours, too.”

“I’m not like you, Bruce. I’m not like this. I’m not—”  
“What, submissive? Gay? Which idea bothers you more?”

“Both bother me quite equally!”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with either one, Steve.”  
“You can’t expect me to be happy having my FREEDOM taken from me.”  
“We’re not taking it away from you, Steve. We’re asking you to give it to us, willingly.”

“I CAN’T.” He felt his chest tighten and his voice crack. “I just CAN’T. I can’t be like that! I have to be strong!”

The snoring stopped abruptly at that.   
“Nmph, hey, hey, now… No one said you can’t be strong, pup.”  
He felt tony stretching a bit under him, and then all of their hands were on him, rolling him gently so that he had to face them. He didn’t want to face them. He felt too raw. Bruce had stirred up things in him that he couldn’t explain, and he couldn’t give in to because giving in was failure.

But they wouldn’t let him go. They both looked down at him. Tony was stroking his cheek while Bruce rubbed his stomach to soothe him.

“You’re stronger than both of us, pup. Well, ‘cept when Bruce gets crabby. No one in their right mind would ever call you weak.”  
“It’s what you want from me, Tony!”

“Oh, really? Well, thanks for telling me what I want, pup,” Tony scoffed softly and continued to stroke his cheek, running a nail lightly over his jawline. “If I wanted you to think you were weak, I would never spar with you sans armor. You kicked my ass.”

“Yes, I really enjoyed watching the security footage of that. It made me proud of how strong you are, yet still able to control your strength and not hurt Tony.”  
“Made me real proud, too… proud, and slightly bruised.”

“Proud?” he asked softly. He didn’t want it to, but he felt his heart warm at that.

“So proud of you, pup. You’re so strong but so skilled.”

He faltered, and then shook his head. “I can’t do this; I’m not… not a homosexual.”

Bruce chuckled at that, “Well neither are we.”  
Steve stared at him. “I saw you…”  
“Having sex? Well, yeah. Great sex, too.”

“What I mean is that things aren’t black and white like that, Steve. You know that we’re with Pepper, and care about her a great deal. I’ve also enjoyed other women before this, so has Tony.”  
“Lots and lots of women, in fact.”

“And Tony isn’t the first man I’ve enjoyed.”  
“But I AM the best one.”

“Sexuality is… fluid, Steve. You don’t have to just pick one and stick with it for the rest of your life. You don’t have to pick one at all, not if you don’t want to.”

And that was about the craziest thing that Steve had ever heard. The worst part was that part of him wanted it to be true. It would be so easy to just accept that, that he could actually want this and have that be ok. 

“It’s not that simple, it can’t be that simple.”  
“Of course it can, if you let it be, pup.”

“He’s right. Sometimes it can be that simple.”  
“I won’t. I wont…”  
“Fuck?”  
His cheeks reddened as Tony’s bluntness went straight to the point. “It’s… filthy.” He ignored them as they both quirked an eyebrow up at that. “And you might not understand, but in my time—”  
“Everyone pretended they were blushing virgins in their honeymoon suite?”  
“It wasn’t PRETEND.”  
“Actually, according to most historical information, it was. There was a whole lot of boots knocking behind the scenes, pup.”

“That doesn’t change MY ethics, Tony.”  
“I guess I just fail to see how not getting your dick stroked is ethical.”

“It’s about PROPRIETY.”  
“Alright fine, you don’t want to get laid. Last I checked, that still left a lot of options open.”

He sucked in a breath as he felt Tony slowly slide the pad of his thumb sensually around the circle of his lips.   
“Isn’t that right, pup?” 

“You… You’re all together. You have each other for that.” He knew he was grasping at straws, now. He’d spent the afternoon sleeping in their laps, he knew they had no qualms with sharing him, and apparently they didn’t think Pepper would, either. Apparently, this was something accepted now, too.

“Yes, Steve, and we want to take care of you, together,” Tony answered softly.

He felt himself being guided up to sit, still in their laps, his butt sliding into Tony’s lap, and really, it couldn’t be this easy, could it? But then Bruce was sliding a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him close. He could still smell the faint scent of curry on him as he draw him closer, and he knew that he was about to kiss him, and he really should stop that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. His body told him he was being offered something deep and wonderful, something that his guts told him he needed, and then he felt warm, firm lips against his own and he couldn’t think about stopping it anymore because it was happening and it was indeed wonderful.

He felt his own lips part as Bruce kissed over them with the firm gentleness that he knew to be purely Bruce. He felt, and then heard the soft whimpering noise rising in the back of his throat, like that of a nervous animal. But Tony was there, rubbing his back and whispering promises in his ear that things were ok, that he was wanted and strong. That they would take care of him, keep him, that he would be their good boy, and he shivered from all of those dark little assurances. He felt himself being lulled into a state of relaxation, his body was telling him to let go and just be. The solider in him fought against the notion, but not as strongly as it should have. Maybe it liked the feeling, too.

And then he was kissing back, feeling Bruce’s lips slip against his. Bruce wasted no time in licking lightly over his bottom lip, drawing his teeth over it, which made him groan softly at the sensation. He heard a soft, breathless chuckle, and then Bruce was exploring his mouth and lips with his tongue. It was like electric was running through them, stroking over his teeth and tongue until Bruce finally released his mouth and they both pulled back, breathing a bit heavier than before.

“That was wonderful, Steve.” Bruce’s hand was at his cheek, tracing a little circle over it. He seemed to be searching Steve’s eyes to gauge his reaction, but Steve had no reaction to give beyond speechlessness.

“Hey, I’m pretty sure it’s my turn, now.”

He felt his hair being yanked back swiftly, and he was dragged backward with no warning. He yelped just as Tony’s pressed his lips against his own, which made the other man chuckle in amusement. 

“I’ve got you, Steve.” He felt the words as they were whispered against his lips, then apparently it really was Tony’s turn because he was kissing him. It was none of the lightness of Bruce. Tony was just as forward with his kisses as he was with the rest of his life. Steve felt his lips nipped at playfully, and the light scratch of beard against his own jaw. He let out an undignified squeak and pulled away from the kiss when he felt a hand cupping his bottom.

Tony just grinned, unabashed.

“I guess I only get to first base, tonight?”  
It took a moment for Steve to understand that this was a baseball metaphor and related to sex, but then he nodded his head vigorously. Suddenly he blushed as he realized that, to Tony, he was the “girl” in this situation, if he were to relate it to ideas he knew about dating, and Tony was very much like the horn dog boys he’d grown up with. 

“Don’t push him, Tony. He needs time,” Bruce chided lightly, and then looked at Steve seriously. “Nothing you don’t want, puppy,” He added sincerely.

He felt himself being shifted over into Bruce’s lap and arms. The man’s arms enveloped him and he felt warm and secure even though Steve was the larger man, which should make it feel silly. It was strange how quickly it happened; part of him was still much at war with himself. What if it was the serum, though? Then this was just part of his new self, really. He couldn’t fight against that. It made it easier, really, to look at it like that. After a few long moments, he felt himself settle more in Bruce’s lap. He found that pressing his back firmly against a warm chest felt nice. And that Tony really did want to share him, because his legs were being pulled into the other man’s lap and then there was firm rubbing on his feet that felt way too good to be appropriate. He let out a slight groan that had Tony chuckling. 

“Cute little puppy.”

They both seemed content to hold him through another TV program or two. It made him feel warm and as small as a young boy. They chatted, mostly about little things. They both seemed to enjoy helping explain some things going on in the program to Steve who would ask the occasional question. Tony clearly enjoyed arguing with the television even while Bruce would teasingly point out that no one was listening, and that if he REALLY had a problem with what was going on, he should just buy the station and change it himself.  
Then there was the kissing. Whenever there was a pause in conversation it always seemed to be filled with a kiss. Tony would wink at Bruce and lean in to kiss him, slowly, showily, because he knew Steve would watch him even though it made him squirm and his cheeks would pinken at the thought of being seated in the laps of two men as they traded kisses. Then Bruce would return it, or one would turn to Steve and kiss over his lips. Each time it made the soldier jump to feel the brush of lips, but when Bruce was at his mouth Tony would stroke across Steve’s back and tell him how good they looked together. Or when Tony was having his turn, Bruce would embrace Steve in his encompassing arms and just hold him as Tony turned his head towards himself and made of game of trying to get Steve to use his tongue in return for how wickedly Tony used his.  
Between the casual conversation and slow lazy kisses, it got to be dinner time. And even though he’d spent the evening on the couch, Steve felt famished again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note: Sorry for the delay in posting! The real world caught up to my GF and I so it took a bit longer to get this one beta'd then usual.

“Look, Bruce, as much as I love your cooking, man cannot live on Indian alone.”  
“I’m pretty sure the Indians do, Tony,” Bruce pointed out dryly.   
“No, even they have pizza now."

“Pizza?” The slightly hopeful look in Steve’s eyes had Bruce relenting and Tony grinning.

“Two against one there, my friend. JARVIS, put the call in for our usual, as long as Steve here doesn’t have any requests?”

He shook his head. Pizza was just becoming popular in this part of the world before his freeze, and he remembered liking it very much. Until then, he’d been living off frozen meals, which had taken some time to figure out, and the little grocer that was located right beside his gym. He knew there were tons of places to “eat out” at around him but he felt like a fish out of water just looking at the menus they posted. He was glad to let Bruce and Tony do the pizza picking. How different could pizza be?  
He watched in confusion as Tony hopped up from the couch and made his way over to the large balcony, disappearing in a whir of red and gold.

“His favorite place is an hour delivery even when they know it’s for Tony Stark. He whines if the pizza isn’t stringy enough.”

Steve snorted out a laugh then scooted back on the couch a bit nervously, looking at Bruce who was watching him quietly. It had been easy to set a rhythm earlier with them between conversations, but with just Bruce there he was unsure of what he was getting into. Bruce, for the most part, looked like he was studying him very closely; it was a little uncomfortable, to be honest. Finally, the man let out a sigh and took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly.

“I’m worried,” he stated calmly. 

“Shouldn’t I really be the one who’s worried right now?” Steve looked at him cautiously.

“No, that’s just it, you shouldn’t. I think, in my eagerness, I let Tony talk me into something very stupid.” Bruce looked uncomfortable, enough so that he adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves and rolled his shoulders a bit, nervous tics Steve hadn’t seen since they’d been aboard the Helicarrier. 

“Your… circumstances were, well, unexpected. It made things very tempting, an easy way to get what we wanted. I’ve been accused once or twice of rushing into things without thinking of the consequences.” He gave Steve a small rueful smile before he continued, “We shouldn’t have pushed like we did, even if we liked the result. It was a lapse in judgement, I'm...I'm very sorry Steve“

“I…” Steve watched him uncertainly, not sure what he felt as Bruce stumbled over his apology. It should feel silly, he was a grown man and he was capable of handling himself, but there was a tightness in his stomach that loosened with the words. “It’s ok… the end results were good,” he felt the need to reassure.

“Ends don’t always justify means. If you want to continue this, believe me when I say nothing would make us happier, but we’re not going to play around like we did. We were both overeager, it made it easy for us to justify what we did in the moment. If you say no, I’m going to stop, and so will Tony. What we did earlier was foolish, and we risked something doing it. It’s not going to happen again, and I hope we can regain any trust you’ve just lost in us over it.”

It was so genuine that Steve wanted to believe it. He still felt angry over being prodded like he had, but some parts of the evening had been undeniably pleasant. He told himself that he should put a stop to this now, though.

"What changed?"

"I can't explain it really, not in words." Bruce gave an apologetic smile and Steve recognized that part of it was evasion and Bruce hiding a piece of himself away, a certain angry green piece. He wasn't one to interrogate but he had learned some of the skills and part of him wanted to start questioning Bruce on his sudden shift in directions but another part of him knew that if this was something related to the Hulk then nothing was going to get it out a Bruce without him giving it up himself.

“What would happen if I was interested still?” he found himself asking instead.

“Then we would need to have a long discussion between all of us, and we really need to give you a crash course on things like safewords and comfort levels… but for now, know that no means no and we’re sorry.”

“You’re sorry. Tony is never sorry,” Steve pointed out.  
“Tony never SAYS he’s sorry. There’s a difference.”

“Is he sorry about this?”  
“He doesn’t know to be yet. I’ll talk to him.”

“I liked it,” He felt himself let it out in a rush of air. “Not all of it, but a lot of it. If I had a say, I’d maybe like a lot more.”

Bruce smiled at that, looking relieved. Then he leaned close, giving him time to change his mind before he brushed his lips over Steve’s. 

“Do you want to continue with this, tonight?”  
“I’ll probably chicken out if I don’t do it now,” he admitted.

“Then stay and eat with us, please? And remember, no means no.”  
“Alright. No means no,” he agreed firmly.

The answer to Steve’s earlier question about pizza was apparently “very.” He stared down at Tony’s Pizza which had tiny eggs all over it. He had been informed that it was a pizza with caramelized onions, arugula, and quail eggs, which baffled Steve because what was wrong with regular eggs, or regular onions for that matter, and really, what was arugula? At least Bruce’s pizza he recognized as mushroom, though he’d never seen most of the sorts of mushrooms that were loaded onto it.

He looked over the pizza boxes with feigned interest, trying not to pay attention to the fact that the second Tony had flown back in and de-armored, Bruce had tugged him over to a corner of the kitchen. Steve saw the flash of a cell phone being pulled out of his pocket, and then the two, well three, apparently were speaking softly.

“Ok, ok, mom. The boys will play nice,” was at the tail end of the conversation as Tony sauntered back into the room and plopped down on the couch. Bruce shook his head as he hung up the phone.

Tony looked at him and also shook his head a bit in amusement for a moment, and then Steve saw him pause and look at him, really look at him for a moment and he stopped, clearing his throat. He opened his mouth, then shut it, then grinned at Steve. "Yeah, so, once or twice I've had a bad idea. Who’s hungry?"

Steve was pretty sure that was an apology. He was tempted to tease Tony about how horrible the attempt was, but then his stomach rumbled again and he looked down at the strange pizzas, instead. He wasn’t sure where to even begin with either of them. When he reached towards the boxes, he found his hands gently clasped in Bruce’s.

“Allow us, puppy?” Bruce questioned to him gently and brought his hands up to place a light kiss over them. It felt like another apology.

Steve reddened because so far it had only been Tony relating him to a little animal, but now here was Bruce seeming to see the same thing in him that Tony did. He watched as Tony slid the coffee table away with one shove of his foot. He could say no, though. If he walked out now they'd let him, he felt it. It made the situation more comfortable.

“Kneel down between us, pup, if you please. We’d like to be the ones feeding you.”  
“I’m not REALLY a dog, Tony.” He resisted the urge to roll his eyes even as he lowered himself to the ground. The plush carpet was crushed softly under his knees.

“Never said dog, Steve. Christ, you’ve always looked like a pup, though. Thought it the second I saw you, really saw you. Hands behind your back,” Tony ordered, but looked at him closely as he leaned forward on the couch. Now Steve did roll his eyes a bit. If Tony was trying to embarrass him, he was failing there. He'd spent a lot of time in training holding formations, and this wasn't anything new. In fact, the familiarity of it was calming. He clasped his hands behind his back; it reminded him of the rest position he had often taken before on military parade. He felt himself shift his legs further apart to shoulder width in order to better fit the pose except for the simple fact that he was kneeling in front of a couch. He tried to ignore the twist of pleasure in his stomach over receiving and then obeying Tony's command with precision.

“What perfect form our pup has!” Tony chuckled. “Obedience school certainly paid off.” 

Steve grinned when Bruce whapped Tony slightly upside the head and scolded him for being rude, and then watched as Tony leaned forward and pulled a piece of pizza from the box. Despite the strange ingredients, Steve saw the way the stingy cheese pulled apart as the pieces separated and his stomach rumbled.

“Open up, pup.”

He hesitated only slightly before opening his mouth. Tony broke off a piece of the pizza with his fingers and held it to Steve’s mouth where Steve carefully took it to chew. It was strange, but delicious, much like Bruce’s cooking. He chewed slowly and swallowed, then looked confused as Tony’s hand was still on front of his face, a little smear of sauce on his thumb.

“Made a mess, Steve, clean it up.”

He turned slightly to go for a napkin back on the table but then Tony’s thumb was popped into his mouth, making him jump slightly as the man simply wiped the sauce from his thumb over Steve’s tongue.

“There we go, much better.”

He licked his lips tentatively, but before he could offer a rebuttal, Bruce had a piece of his own at his lips. And so they fed him between bites, alternating between the two pizzas. Then when they had had their fill, they continued to feed him piece after piece, and Steve was grateful that if he was supposed to rely on them for food, they understood his metabolic needs better than anyone else alive thanks to all of the tests and readouts they had on him. With Steve's appetite, Tony was soon sliding the last crust of pizza between his lips. 

“All gone, pup. You get enough? Growing boys have to eat.” He winked down at him teasingly and Steve just nodded, strangely feeling too relaxed to allow himself any ire at Tony’s constant playful bantering.

Bruce cleaned up the boxes and Steve felt like he should be helping, but he wasn’t told he was allowed to get up and he realized that it would have felt oddly wrong to just get up when he’d been told to kneel.

“Jarvis, run a bath for Steve. He’s smelling a bit ripe. Didn’t get cleaned up after our session, did you?”

Steve shook his head and felt embarrassed that Tony thought he smelled, especially as he had just spent the last few hours in both of their laps.

Bruce looked over from the clean-up and smiled. “Don’t worry, Steve, it’s not bad. I think it’s sort of nice, actually.”   
“He really does like it; he’s always frisky after I get out of the suit,” Tony confirmed with a conspiratorial whisper.

Steve wasn’t sure that made him feel any better.

“Alright then, come on, it’s tubby time!” Tony declared cheerfully as he rose from the couch.

Steve stood slowly. He paused to let the blood rush back down into his legs and knees. It made him itch like there were pins prickling up and down his skin. After a moment, he took a step towards the elevator, only to be stopped by Tony’s hand as it wrapped firmly around his waist. Steve was proud of how he managed not to jump at the sudden touch. These two were way more touchy than would have been ever considered appropriate outside the bedroom during his time.

“Where exactly are you going, pup?” Tony asked.  
He snorted, “I’m going to my room to shower, Tony.”  
“Oh no, no, showers are out; baths are in season. Come on, the tub is THIS way."

He let himself be pulled towards a pair of doors that he could only assume led to the innermost chambers of the men’s suite. He felt himself squirm slightly at being drawn into that sort of intimate setting.

If he expected the bedroom of Tony Stark to be a grandiose extravagant affair filled with technology most of the world could only dream of, well, he was completely right on that account. There was lush carpeting, and a huge canopy bed made from dark chestnut carved with incredible detail. He couldn’t help but notice how the thick curtains were drawn back invitingly. The room smacked of Tony Stark, billionaire extraordinaire. 

Still, there were traces of Bruce and Pepper to be found in the room. There was a small bookshelf near the bed, housing some very old and worn looking leather bound books. A nice looking desk with actual paperwork stacked neatly on top meant it couldn’t possibly be Tony’s, either. Steve also doubted that it was Tony who took care of the little ornamental trees that graced a table by a large window which streamed light in on them. 

“Like it, pup?” Tony asked as he guided him and let Steve have a look. “Had to remodel after Loki and the big guy had their little party in here.”

Steve just nodded slightly. His eyes were drawn to a large painting square in the corner. It took up half of the wall space, which was no small feat considering how large the wall was. It was like nothing he had seen before. Inside the large square were concentric circles and squares, each filled with different patterns and designs. The entire thing was painted in clay reds, tans, and deep yellows.

“It’s a mandala,” Bruce explained as he entered the room.  
“Yeah, meditation tool for him. Stands for inner peace and all that nonsense.” Tony gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Took up so much of the wall painting that thing. Do you know how many computer screens I could have had on there?”

“You painted this?” He brushed his finger tentatively over the corner of the paint, feeling the slight texture against his finger pad.  
“Yes. I find it calming. It’s good to have things that ground us, Steve. Tony didn’t mention that it’s also symbolic of balance. It’s a good reminder.”

Steve nodded slightly. “It’s beautiful. I didn’t know you could paint.”  
“Really, it was more like filling in an equation.” Bruce just smiled modestly at the compliment.

“Alright, enough stalling, let’s get you scrubbed clean!”  
“…I am capable of showering alone,” Steve stated, suddenly getting Tony’s implications.  
“Bathing, and the fact that you can’t remember that surely means you can’t be trusted with it, pup.”

Steve shook his head. He didn’t trust Tony in the bathroom with him for even a second.

“That’s a no Tony. I can help him get set up in there, if that’s ok with you Steve. Tony. You get ready for bed. It’s been a long day, and I’m sure all of us could sleep, even you.”

Tony looked dissatisfied for only a moment before he flashed a grin. “Alright, I’ll get set up. Make sure he washes behind his ears,” he called over his shoulder before heading into a large closet.

Steve was relieved he was able to shake off Tony. He felt little pinpricks that had been tickling his stomach release. He’d said no and it was dropped. He wasn’t worried now as Bruce led him into the luxurious bathroom. There was a large tub inlaid into the floor already steaming with hot bubbly looking water. He had to admit that it looked very inviting even though he had not taken a bath since he was a child. He glanced at Bruce warily as he reached to disrobe.

“Just you in there, Steve. I can leave if you need or just want the privacy, but I’d like to stay and talk.” He gave him a reassuring smile.

Steve thought it over then shrugged a little, tugging off his shirt, and then hesitated again at his shorts. He wasn’t unused to being naked in front of other men, he was a military man after all, but this was different. He felt like he was unintentionally putting on a show which, needless to say, made him feel more than a little awkward. He decided to get it over with quickly and yanked down his shorts, sliding into the tub with a slight oof at the sudden heat sliding over his body. The oof quickly became a groan.

“It’s nice, isn’t it? He’s got me taking baths again, too.”

Steve nodded and looked over to see Bruce hadn’t even been watching, instead he had started to get out a towel then pick up Steve’s clothing. “I can get tho—”

“No, don’t worry about it, Steve. I don’t mind at all.” He dumped them into a hamper and Steve suddenly realized he didn’t exactly have a change of clothing on this floor. With a sigh, he sank down into the water more and looked for a bar of soap and a washcloth to clean off with. Even that was different here, though. Bruce handed him a bottle of gel and a strange poofy scrub. He had to admit this did feel like it cleaned better, though, as he scrubbed the sweat away from his skin. Bruce was still watching him, notably not leering at him like Tony would have most likely been doing, as he cleaned up. He looked up once or twice, trying to discern what the man was thinking, but Bruce would simply smile at him, his eyes betraying nothing.

When he was finished, Bruce was standing close to the tub again, holding a bottle of shampoo.   
“I would like to wash your hair, Steve, if you don’t mind. If that’s ok, could you wet your head down?”

He should have known he wasn’t going to get through this bath without some sort of offering. Still, it was less than what he would have gone through with Tony, he was certain. His mind flashed to the man insisting he wash his back, and then his chest, then his private areas, just to be safe, and he reddened. He could say no, but he wasn't entirely sure he would. Yes, this was definitely better. he could get behind this idea. It sounded pleasant, and safe.

Or was it, really? Because after Steve nodded and dunked under the water, the way Bruce knelt behind him and began to massage the tips of his fingers into his scalp was making him melt against the side of the tub.

“That’s a good puppy, such silky hair. Thank you for letting me wash it.”

He felt bubbly fingers scratch and rub all the way to the nape of his neck where they gave a light teasing tug on the finer hairs there. Then Bruce really did seem to be checking behind his ears like Tony suggested. He felt his thumbs slide slickly up the creases where his ears met his scalp and it made his body shiver.

“You are really very beautiful, Steve,” Bruce said softly as he cupped water into his hands and rinsed his hair. Steve shook his head slightly because beautiful was for women and he didn’t want to be seen as that. Bruce didn’t argue with him, at least. He just continued to carefully rinse.

“Does it bother you when Tony or I refer to you like a puppy, Steve?” Bruce asked seriously as he let handfuls of water cascade over Steve’s hair.

Steve shrugged, “Been called a lot worse things; it’s kind of weird. Like Tony’s one of those kids that never got a dog when he wanted one.”

Bruce chuckled. “He didn’t, but he coped by building Dummy, instead.”

Steve thought of the strange little mechanical arm bumping into things down at the lab and laughed. “Yeah, that makes sense, actually.”

“Mhm. It’s not meant to be a negative thing though. Trust me, Tony doesn’t ACTUALLY want a pet. He does want you here, though. We both do, and we want you comfortable here.”

“It’s just a name, Bruce, really.”

“Not just that. It can be hard enough to enter this kind of thing with anyone in the modern world, Steve, believe me it’s not just you. But you having no frame of reference can make it even harder on you, and worse, it could make us do something to unintentionally hurt you again.”

“I’m not made of glass.”  
“No, but serum or not, you are human. We’re going to talk about things tomorrow night, ok? A lot of things. Consider it a crash course in modern human sexuality.”

Steve had just nodded at that and Bruce continued. By the time they got to conditioner, Steve felt himself growing slightly heated and he was glad that the water was obscured by bubbles so that Bruce couldn’t see how much his simple hair washing had affected him. It was embarrassing; before this day, he would have said that a man could never arouse any such feeling in him, but it was as if Bruce had quite easily reached inside of him with his nimble fingers and pulled out these darker, baser feelings.

“There, all clean. Are you ready to get out?”

He shook his head quickly. “Would it be ok if I just soaked in here for a little bit, alone?”

He didn’t like the little knowing laugh he heard Bruce trying to hold back.

“Of course. Take the time you need, Steve, then wrap up in a towel and come out.”

He just nodded and was relieved that Bruce left so easily. His hand started to slide down slightly into the water before he stopped it. There was no way he would survive the mortification of succumbing to such an action, especially right here, with them outside the door. It was an action he had mostly been able to resist, save for a few growing years in his teenagehood where it seemed every night was met with sticky sheets and gasping pants.

No, a few calming breaths and some cold splashing on his face and he was able to make the slight swelling retreat, much to his relief. He found the towel Bruce had set out for him and wrapped it securely, very securely, around his waist and headed out of the bathroom to get clothes of some sort so he could get back to his own room.  
Bruce was already seated on the bed, dressed only in a pair of tan, soft looking lounge pants. Tony had an armful of bedding and was carrying it over to—

What was that?

“Got you all setup here, pup, nice and cozy.”

“That looks like a doggy bed, Tony.”

He watched as Tony laughed and spread a comforter over the large rectangular cushion on the floor blocking the door. It really did remind him vaguely of a large pet bed. Why and how did they even have this?

“Sure is. Actually, it’s Pepper’s Japanese futon. She loves all things Japan, but whatever. Usually it's down in the offices for when she sneaks off for a power nap, but since she's gone so long this time I brought it up here and got it nice and cozy for you.”

Steve stared slightly, feeling unsure if he should be angry or not at the situation. “Tony, you gave me a room to sleep in.”

“Pups don’t have room—” Tony was cut off by a yelp as Bruce calmly pushed him over to sprawl onto bedding.

“Steve most certainly has a room. Stop being an ass.”

“You know it was a joke,” Tony defended himself as he stood back up.

“Of course I do. You need to keep in mind that he doesn’t, yet.”

“So, this is all a joke?” Steve asked, deciding that yes, anger was appropriate.

“What? No. Just no.”

Bruce was there by his side in an instant. His hands cupped gently over Steve’s clenched hands. “Be calm, Steve. None of this is a joke to us.”

“Like hell, it isn’t!” He felt even more frustrated at letting a cuss word slip out, something he usually tried only to allow during battle where it felt a little more then appropriate, but his emotions had been tugged and pulled so many places that day that they were beginning to feel frayed at the edges.

“It’s not. Tony just manages to make serious things sound like one. We wanted to give you the option to be up here with us, Steve,” Bruce continued, “not downstairs, alone. We know you probably don't want to join us in bed, so we wanted to give you this as an option. You can go downstairs and sleep if you want, but you’ve been through a lot tonight. I don’t think you really want to sleep alone. You’re welcome to come lay down with us, too, but we both figured that would be too much too soon.”

Steve felt his anger deflating a bit and made a face. “Tony would probably maul me in my sleep.”

“I could lie down in between you. It’s hard for him to maul with a buffer,” Bruce offered with a smile.

He shook his head and looked over at the futon. He was very used to sleeping in the company of others. The orphanage, when he and Bucky would share a tiny bedroom in Brooklyn; during touring he was rarely in a motel room by himself and during the war he never was without half a dozen soldiers piled around him snoring. The past few months had always been him sleeping alone, it was quiet even with the sound of New York Traffic wafting into his window. 

“No...I’ll sleep here on the futon,” he decided.

He slid down to lie on the bedding and braced himself a little, to hear Tony goad him about feeling right at home or being in his proper place, but there was nothing snarky hurled his way. Then he worried for a moment if they would just order him into the bed anyway Instead, he watched as the man picked up the knocked aside comforter and carefully tucked him in.

“We like it a bit cooler when we sleep, pup, you’ll need this.” Then with a stroke to his forehead he walked over to the bed.

Bruce remained with him, pausing a moment before he knelt down beside him. He smoothed his fingers lightly over Steve’s damp hair.  
“That's the closest you're going to get to him apologizing for being a jerk. We’ve wanted you here with us for a long time, Steve. We didn’t even want to give you a room the first night; we wanted to pull you into our arms. Thank you for having patience with us, and for giving us a second chance”

Steve stared up at him, unsure of what to really make of that sentiment, that they’d thought about him before in any sort of context like this.   
Bruce just smiled and stayed there with him until Steve felt any tension in him being stroked away by those fingers as they brushed over his temples and his eyelids felt heavy.

“That’s our boy.” Bruce softly teased then leaned down to press a warm kiss to his forehead. He lingered to brush his lips lightly on Steve’s skin, and it was so tender that it made Steve flush almost as much as if the man had kissed his lips.

“Get some sleep.”

He nodded slightly and curled up on his side. The futon was actually quite comfortable, soft with a faded scent of wildflowers. He felt himself quickly nodding off to the sounds of soft breathing close by.


	8. Chapter 8

Steve awoke in the dead of night. Despite the cooler air, his skin felt prickly hot under his blanket. He couldn’t clearly remember his dreams except that they had been… heated. He hadn’t experienced such dreams in a long time, not since Peggy. This whole ordeal seemed to be awakening a long-retired libido inside of him, and it was unnerving. He felt himself hard against his own belly. The towel he wore to bed had apparently worked off in the night, because under the blanket he was now bare. He bit his lip slightly. This felt beyond simple calming exercises. He wondered if he could slip off to take an ice cold shower unnoticed.

It was then that he heard a soft moan coming from the bed across the room.  


His heart stilled when he heard it followed by a barely heard murmur of “Shh, you’ll wake the Steve,” then some soft laughter.  He tried not to, but he found himself looking towards the bed anyway with morbid curiosity. Thankfully, the curtains were drawn closed. There was a faint glow, though, coming from behind them. It took him a moment to realize that it must be coming from Tony’s arc reactor. Steve hadn’t been aware of just how bright it was when it was uninhibited by clothing. The glow unfortunately had the effect of allowing both men’s silhouettes to be projected faintly on the curtains, leading Steve to get a terribly clear idea of what was going on.

One man’s shadow was draped over the back of the other, pressed so tightly it was hard to discern where one form ended and another begun. The form below had their elbows and knees pressed to the bed, their head dipped down to rest on the bed as the form on top pumped their hips at them. He could see the outline of the one man’s length disappearing into the other, and it took Steve only a moment to realize with a sort of awed horror what exactly was going on. He would have liked to have thought that their indulgences hadn’t reached so far that they were breaking such a scared biblical law as sodomy, but clearly he could not longer pretend that was the case.

He felt himself unable to pry his eyes away as the bodies moved together.  There were soft moans and pants, though by the occasional soft shushing he heard, they were clearly trying to keep it quieter for his sake, which would have been a noble gesture if he hadn’t already been awake. It took him a few moments, but he realized by the way the light was more centered on the top man that it must be Tony on top, violating Bruce in this manner. That shouldn’t have surprised him; of course Tony, with all of his worldly ways, must have convinced Bruce to join him in this sinful wantonness.  


It was too much. He needed to leave, but he couldn’t risk it now, couldn’t risk it being known that he had witnessed this, that he was starting to feel hot inside from its viewing. He was ashamed when he felt own body starting to betray him.  His ill-mannered dream had already left him feeling roused, but he was beginning to harden further at the carnal view in front of him. It made him feel almost ill. He couldn’t let such things affect him. So he waited, turning his head away, but he could still hear them and the gentle creak of the bedsprings.

He brought his hands up to cover his ears, but it didn’t seem to help. Frustrated, he rolled onto his belly, and then gasped softly as that made the warmed cushion press firmly against his own private area. It was instinct that took over him that led him to buck his hips up slightly, causing a sort of dry friction to drag over his member. He felt himself bite down into the cushion to keep himself from crying out as the move caused pleasure to shoot up through his body.  He tried to stop himself, to will his hips to still, but they raised back and gave another firm rock, and then another.

Then it was too much, too rough, but he couldn’t stop himself from needing more. It was an action he hadn’t done in so long but he found his hand knew exactly where to go, as if it was second nature. He continued to bite into the thick cushion to prevent any noise from escaping. His hips rose and his legs shifted so he was on his knees. The back of his brain barely registered that he was now in a very similar position to Bruce, save for his mouth which wetted the cushion and his hand which gripped tightly at a fistful of his blanket. If he had been able to think clearly, then, it would have made him realize that the shiver that ran down his spine was precisely because his brain had made the connection without him.

It didn’t take much, just a few firm pumps across his length and he felt it approaching, that heady sensation clouding his head, pleasure gathering within him and making everything feel so tight and hot until it focused solely on his loins and then he was letting out a low guttural groan, gnashing his teeth into the now damp cushion so that nothing of his pleasured noise escaped from it and he felt himself spurting out several long streams of semen onto the cushions.  His body let out a tremor as he collapsed back onto the cushion. He felt the mess smear against his belly and groin, but he couldn’t focus clearly on it, willed himself to not think about what had happened at all. He was spent, and in moments he was out again with a sleepy sigh.  


“Rise and shine, pup!”  


He blinked his eyes open blearily and was met with a face full of Tony’s sneakers as he stood in front of the futon. When Steve craned his neck back, he could see that he was looking down at him with a relaxed smile.  


“I wanted to say goodbye.” He winked and Steve noticed that the man was actually dressed in a more formal suit, carrying a cup of coffee.

“Goodbye?” He cleared his throat a little to loosen the sleepy tone from it.

  
“I’m in meetings all day. It’s amazing how bossy Pepper can be even all the way from Tokyo. It’s going to be just you and Bruce. Be a good little scamp for him, hmm? Now, how about a goodbye kiss?” The last words were said with a teasing slight purse of his lips.

He groaned and rolled over off of his belly, holding back a wince as he felt his skin being pulled as the mess he’d made last night had crusted over and glued him a bit to the cushion. At least a blanket hid that from view. He watched Tony set the cup down and kneel on the floor, not seeming at all worried about wrinkling his suit. Instead he cupped Steve’s cheeks and before Steve was really awake enough to protest his morning mouth, leaned down to give him a firm, upside down kiss. Steve groaned, as he felt him brush his tongue over his bottom lip with a slow tantalizing lick before he pulled away. Steve licked over his own lips slightly in reflex, tasting the caffeine that fueled Tony, along with a slight hint of mint that reminded Steve that he hadn’t even had a chance to brush his own teeth yet.

Tony didn’t seem to mind, though.  “Such soft lips, pup. You’ve even got puppy breath instead of morning breath, I swear.” 

Steve groaned and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. It was really too early for this. Tony just tousled his hair lightly and stood, grabbing his coffee cup with a sort of protective grip.  


“Bruce is downstairs in candyland. There’s a pair of clothes for you on the dresser, milk and cereal are on the counter. When you feel like getting up, lazy, why don’t you eat up and head down? I’m sure he’d like the company."

“Lazy?” Steve managed, mildly insulted. He was an early riser by nature and surely just because Tony apparently liked getting up at an insanely early hour didn’t make Steve a sluggard.

“Yeah, it’s like 10:30, pup.” And with that Tony strode out the door, looking like he was ready to take on the business world with the same fervor he took on an alien army. 

Steve tried not to be startled by that. Surely Tony was mistaken, but a quick look around the room for a clock had him realizing it was indeed that late into the morning. He wasn’t sure he’d ever slept so late in his life. It made him feel uncomfortably slothful. How many more moral codes was he going to break while he was here? It was like since he’d arrived at Stark tower they were trying to get him to run through all of the seven deadly sins, sloth here, rage at Tony when he thought he was cheating, gluttony at being fed so well… lust, his mind not so invitingly supplied.  Well, at least pride he could leave to Tony, he had enough for everyone. Steve almost envied him… Shoot, well there was another one.

As soon as Steve was sure Tony was gone, he tossed the blanket off and stood, surveying the mess he’d made and if he would be able to clean it up without notice. The task didn’t prove to be too difficult, with some water and his towel he managed to scrub both himself and the cushion clean so that only a slight damp spot remained. He pushed down any guilt he felt over the action. It had been a long time since he’d given in, slipped up like that, and there were extenuating circumstances to it. What he’d done was wrong, but not unforgivable.

Task completed, he dressed then went out to the kitchen and ate several bowls of some sort of sugary cereal that had been left out for him which contained a slew of tiny Technicolor marshmallows. It was probably something Tony had picked out for himself with little to no nutritional value. It was delicious. He stalled at the last bowl, swirling the milk around with his spoon before he finally finished. He was unsure about doing so, but he headed down to find Bruce. It would be rude to avoid the man all day, and Steve had broken character enough recently. It took a bit of searching but finally he saw him, several levels down, face covered by a welding mask as he carefully soldered together something he was tinkering with.

Clearing his throat was enough to get the mask to lift and a smile.  


“There you are. I was hoping you’d come keep me company, Steve.”   
Steve felt silly over the strange flush of pleasure he felt at that. He was used to being wanted for his skills or strength. It was rare to simply be wanted as a person, as someone who was good company.

So he strove to be that good company. He knew he was out of his league in offering any sort of advice in what Bruce was working on, but he found it easy to simply talk to him. They spoke of Bruce’s travels, of different places he had been and the sights he had seen. The way Bruce was able to describe them made it feel as if Steve could almost see the lands themselves. Then the conversation turned to him, his childhood activities, things he had enjoyed growing up. It made him feel nostalgic as he talked about stopping by the corner store for an egg cream with his friends, something he found that most people didn’t even know about anymore. He talked about stick ball games in the grimy streets around his home and how he was always picked last for them, but he would always try his hardest to make the other team regret making that choice.  


It was clear that Bruce was listening to him so attentively even as he worked. He would pause every so often and ask him a question, never anything too invasive. It never felt like an interrogation, it always felt like Bruce honestly wanted to know about his life. It made the words come easily; the flow was unbroken even as Bruce fixed them a quick lunch before going back to work. It felt that, by the end of the day, Bruce knew more about his personal life than any other person alive. To Steve’s surprise, that knowledge didn’t come with any sort of bad feelings associated with it.

He was just finishing the tale of how he’d almost been run down by an angry railroad conductor when Jarvis interrupted them.  


“Forgive the interruption, sirs, but Mr. Stark has arrive home.”

“Thank you, Jarvis. I guess we should go greet him huh, puppy?”

He hesitated then nodded slightly. To his surprise, he found he kind of did want to see the man. Tony was good company when he wasn’t trying to defile him utterly. Steve held back a rueful smile at that thought. How far gone was he that that, there, was the basis for one of the few friendships he had?

Bruce cleared a couple of things up in the workshop before nodding to him then wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist in one fluid movement. Steve startled a little at that, and tensed. There hadn’t even been a hint of touch during their day in the lab, so it had made it remarkably easy not to think of the kissing they’d shared between them the night before, to pretend it had never happened. The sudden change made him feel uneasy. Bruce just smiled at him reassuringly.  


“Is it ok, Steve? I’d just like to touch you. It goes no farther than you want it to.”

Steve knew he shouldn’t, that it was actually a really bad idea, and now would be a good time to decide that a repeat of last night would never happen again. Then he nodded and let himself be pulled firmly against the other man’s form. Last night, when he’d drifted off, before he’d been shocked in viewing their debasement he’d felt… good, peaceful. It was hard to reconcile that he could feel good like that, between them; serum, it had to be the serum in some way. Now that he knew it could make him betray himself like that, it made it a little easier to let himself relax against Bruce. He could keep it from going further, and he would. Just a repeat of last night wouldn’t be so bad.

 As he leaned against the shorter man he noticed little things he hadn’t before. Like how Bruce always seemed to smell slightly of spice even if he wasn’t cooking, and how he definitely preferred to touch Steve’s bare skin. He felt a hand slide under his shirt to palm his stomach. He felt his stomach tense slightly. But all Bruce had to do was lean up slightly to croon soft reassurances in his ear, that he would stop if Steve wanted him to, it’d just take one word, that he just wanted to touch his stomach, nothing else, that he was a good puppy, and he felt his belly relax to the strokes and circles Bruce traced around it.  


He let himself be led up to the living area, with the constant stimulation of belly rubs and the intermittent scratch of nails over his stomach that made his breathing start to get a bit heavier. Bruce seemed to be taking the long way to their destination, clearly enjoying getting the time to play. Soon it progressed so that, as they walked, Bruce would trace a finger slowly along every line of his abs and other stomach muscles, even trailing ever so slightly into the hem of his shorts to follow a line. This was proving to be too much, and finally Steve felt himself shiver and his hands flew out to grip onto Bruce’s shirt, overwhelmed by the gentle teasing and what it was doing to his body. He felt the hand leave his stomach and slide into his hair. It stroked, and Bruce kissed over his ear, trailing a line of kisses over to his lips which he proceeded to kiss and tease.  


This was too much, Bruce’s gentle touches were surely meant to drive his mind crazy. Suddenly he was falling, into Bruce’s lap as he’d apparently guided them over to the couch, he wasn’t even sure when they’d really gotten back to the living room. He gasped and his fingers dug more tightly into his shirt as the man continued his stroking and rubbing, getting so teasingly close to his groin, his fingers dipping into his hem but never going past it. But still, he could feel himself starting to strain in his shorts, his member seeming intent to try and straighten enough that so that Bruce’s light teasing would be enough to reach its tip. His legs curled in on themselves and he tried to ball up in Bruce’s lap, to shield himself from how good everything felt. His face wound up pressed tightly to Bruce’s chest. He felt a soft whimper rising in his throat so he bit into the soft cotton in front of him to suppress it. There was a surprised gasp under him, then a chuckle.  


“Puppy, I didn’t know you were a biter.”

He couldn’t even process that; he was too busy mouthing at the cloth and soft flesh he could feel beneath it. It felt better like that, it made him more able to focus, but maybe that was bad because then he could feel those fingers all the better as they brushed over him. It was confusing and wonderful. His brain warred about putting an end to it just so he could think again, but instead he curled in more and let himself be held and petted and warm.

“Oh, there you are, we came up to greet you,” came Bruce’s soft voice. Steve was pressed so tightly to him he could feel the vibrations against his own chest.

  
He felt himself being pulled away from Bruce’s chest, and he couldn’t hold back the whine at the loss. He felt warm there, safe, even with those maddening hands all over him. But he was being guided and prodded into turning around in Bruce’s lap. His legs spayed out on either side of Bruce’s knees as he was turned out to face Tony.

“So I see. I can’t complain about that type of greeting.”

Steve watched as Tony walked over to them from the outside patio as he had apparently decided to fly to work. He raised his eyes up as he approached closer, then realized the situation he was in, his shorts tenting, his arousal blaring as his legs were spread so wantonly. He attempted to clasp them shut but Tony closed the distance between them quickly and knelt down between them.  


“And what is that I’m seeing, hmm?” His tone was light and playful. “Just what have you been doing to our pup, Bruce?”

“Not much. He’s so responsive to a belly rub, though. Reminds me, well… of me, a bit.”   
Steve must have looked confused at that because Tony explained, “The big guy… he hadn’t felt safe touching anyone for a long time… not a handshake, not a hug… When we finally got together, he was starving just for touch.”

“Just like you are now, puppy,” Bruce whispered softly against his ear.

Steve leaned into the soft brush of lips against his ear as Tony placed his hands on his knees and rubbed them lightly. He was already on overload from Bruce, he couldn’t take much else, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say no, either. He was torn with indecision as Tony started rubbing his hands up and down his thighs in a slow, long, petting motion, stopping just as he reached the edge of his shorts.

  
“T-tony!” he gasped and arched slightly as the sensation sent a rush a pleasure straight to his member, flushing with shame as he realized that that pushed his groin towards the man more, but the move had been completely involuntary, much like many of the other reactions he was showing.

“It’s ok, pup, just trust us.” Bruce mouthed his earlobe. “You’re safe.”

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of that statement. Two men stroking and rubbing his body, and he was supposed to trust them? He shook his head again in hazy amusement.

Bruce paused. “Was that a no?” he asked seriously against his ear.

Steve quickly shook his head at that and moaned as Bruce’s hand traveled from his belly to his chest, still tracing over every defined muscle he could find, and there were so many. He felt so helpless against them, against his own body.

He felt like they kept him still there for an eternity.  Bruce had begun to circle along his left nipple with his same casual slowness. It sent another jolt of pleasure straight down him and he found that to be his breaking point.  


“P-please! Bruce…” His breath came in a shaky gasp, “p-please, I can’t, anymore. It’s too much!”

Just like that. Bruce’s hand stopped mid-stroke over his taunt nub, and then mercifully left his shirt. Tony’s hands, though, were still rubbing. By now they had worked under his shorts a bit, massaging the skin he found there. He looked down and Tony’s eyes met him with a hungry intensity to them.  


“That go for me, too, Steve? Am I too much? We could always take you to the bedroom and show you just how much more you can take.”

“No!” He sat up sharply at that, snapping his legs shut, inadvertently trapping Tony’s hands between them even as part of his brain noted that the other man had already started to pull away once the word no left his lips.

Tony yelped. “Ah! Ease up, ease up, pup!” With a tug, he managed to release his hands and laughed. “That’s some leg grip you’ve got there.”

Steve panted. “I don’t want to go to the bedroom, Tony.”

“Yeah, I got that, don’t have to tell me twice.” He sat back on the coffee table with a lazy plop and hovered his hand over Steve’s leg, waiting for a nod before he placed it on his knee to squeeze reassuringly.  


 “Tony was just teasing. It stops when you want it to, puppy,” Bruce quickly guaranteed him with a firm pat on his arm.

  
“He’s right, it was just a suggestion, pup. You were looking pretty hot and bothered. ARE looking pretty hot and bothered. Just figured you might want to take it to the next level.”

“I doubt I’ll EVER want to take it to the level you’re thinking of, Tony.” He looked at him warily as he held a hand on his chest, hearing his heart thumping rapidly as he tried to settle his breathing. They’d said no, and once the initial worry faded, he was back to feeling incredibly pent up. He squirmed slightly at the feeling of tightness in his shorts.

“Don’t speak so quickly, pup.  Sometimes… ok, well, usually never, but sometimes, I can be patient.” Tony grinned and popped up from his place on the floor. “Well, I’m starving. What are we having?”

“I think our Steve might need a little time to himself in the bathroom.”

“I’m just fine.” Steve managed to sound only slightly out of breath still. “Just fine.”

He pushed himself out of Bruce’s lap and stood. He wasn’t blind, he could see that Tony was also sporting a firmness in his pants, and from what he had felt pressed firmly against his back he didn’t need to see Bruce to know the same was true about him.

“Well if YOU’RE not going to use the bathroom, I am.”

“Then perhaps I’ll join you.” Bruce stood and wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist. Steve glanced away in embarrassment as the two quickly became entangled in a kiss. When he wasn’t part of it, it was a little too easy to think about what he had seen last night. Bruce broke it only for a moment to speak to him.  


“Would you please pull the blue tub out of the freezer and thaw it?”

  
He nodded silently as he assumed it wouldn’t take much more difficulty than a freezer meal, then he watched as the pair disappeared into the other room, to shower and clearly also indulge in some sort of taboo. Steve couldn’t help but wonder where they found the time and energy.


	9. Chapter 9

He thawed the food in the container with little trouble, and then with much hesitation took a handful of ice, hissing as he reached into his pants and cupped it against his genitals. It was excruciating to say the least, but after a few minutes he was able to pull back with a sigh of relief as his member had softened and become something more manageable.

 

Dinner was fast and lively. They didn't offer to feed himself this time, though Steve had a feeling that it was mostly due to them both being too hungry to take the time to do so for him. Despite their earlier teasing and touches, he found that it was easy for them to get him to take place in the conversation, even when the “pop culture references” as Tony called them flew right over his head, or when they made a scientific observation that made him feel like perhaps he should be sitting at his own separate children’s table. They were just so intelligent it was a little daunting at times, especially when Tony suddenly cried out with a fork full of noodles in his mouth and started to draw out some sort of equation out onto the table with his salad dressing.

 

Steve stared but Bruce just seemed to take the entire thing in stride and pulled a pen from his shirt pocket, then slid it and a napkin over to Tony. Tony easily transitioned to the upgrade in writing implements and spent the next 10 minutes or so scribbling away in silence with his head bent low over his work. When he was done, he grinned and slipped the napkin into his pocket without another word on the matter.

 

“So, movies and Domination/Submission conversation should be on the docket tonight.”

 

Steve mostly liked Tony more when he was quiet.

 

They settled onto the couch. He walked over to a separate chair. 

 

“Oh no, Steve, do that and I’ll climb right over into your lap, and I’m saucy when I’m in someone’s lap,” Tony said with a sly grin.

 

“He really is. He has a very purposeful wiggle to his hips.”

 

“I want to copyright it. Pepper said she’d try to get it done by saying it was a dance move and therefore intellectual property, but I really would rather it be known for what it is, pure seduction.”

 

Steve laughed lightly and walked over to sit on the couch beside Bruce, smiling when Tony pouted slightly.

 

“Right, are we watching a movie now?” he asked.

 

“We can watch a movie or we can talk first, Steve. There are a couple of things that Tony and I would like to talk to you about tonight.”

 

Steve didn’t think watching movies would distract them from a discussion he wanted no part of, but he was willing to try. So he let Tony pick out a movie and they watched it. Steve would have been lying if he said he wasn’t enthralled by the choice. He’d watched a few movies since he’d been unfrozen, but they were just so DIFFERENT now than they were back then. This one was no exception with its dazzling effects that had Steve scooting up on the couch and leaning forward in anticipation.

“If he gets like this over the original Toy Story, wait till he sees the rest of them,” was Tony’s only comment when Steve felt himself getting a little red in the eyes.

 

“Don’t even act like you didn’t cry when we watched number three together, and you’d already seen it,” Bruce replied dryly.

 

“I told you, Dummy had blown too much fire extinguisher in my eyes,” Tony defended.

 

Bruce just made a noise that conveyed his disbelief and wrapped an arm around Tony, rubbing his side.

 

“Wait, so you’re not just watching this for me?” Steve asked, because he recognized this as a more childish cartoon and he had figured the two had put it on because he was too old fashioned to handle any of the new stuff out there for adults.

 

“What?” Bruce looked confused. “This is on because it’s a classic. We thought you should see the classics.”

 

“I didn’t know, I just kind of thought…” he shrugged a little. “People seem to think I can’t handle a lot of the new stuff, all of the stuff that has changed.”

 

Tony snorted. “You handled being introduced to a world of gods, magic, and an invisible flying Helicarrier. I think you can handle seeing The Godfather, or Inception. SHIELD’s been handling you with kid gloves.”

 

Bruce nodded in agreement, “A lot has changed. The most foolish thing to do right now would be to hide those changes from you in an attempt to protect you from them.”

 

Steve winced a little at that, thinking of the shock he’d gotten when he burst through the protective shell SHIELD had set up and right into Times Square. “Yeah, I can get that. I’d rather just know things than have them hidden from me. I just didn’t know you guys felt the same.”

 

“Pup, I really don’t think we’d have been making out with you all night if we felt like introducing you to this ‘Brave New World’ slowly.”

 

Steve stared at him, and then laughed out loud. He understood that reference. His laughter was joined by the other two men and it felt nice, to just sit with them and laugh. They finished the rest of the movie in companionable silence, or as close as Tony seemed to be able to get to that. By the time it was over, Bruce had somehow positioned himself so he was laying down on the couch face up with his head in Tony’s lap, his legs draped over the edge of the couch. Tony rested his hand over Bruce’s chest, drumming his fingers against him lightly.

 

“Are you ready to talk now, Steve?” Bruce asked, sounding relaxed.

 

“We could always watch another movie,” Steve suggested softly, it was a painfully obvious distraction and he knew it.

 

“Maybe that could wait until after we talk, hmm?” Bruce replied patiently.

 

Steve nodded quietly in response, “I think I’d like that.” If he still felt like he could be in the same room with them after they finished discussing what they wanted to talk about.

 

“Well, first, pup… How does it feel, when we give you an order and your body obeys it?” Tony asked, still tapping his fingers all over Bruce in a very distracting manner.

 

“Bad,” Steve lied automatically.

 

“Does it hurt?” Bruce sat up at that, immediately looking concerned, the guilty look of yesterday back in an instant which in turn made Steve feel guilty.

 

“No, no,” he reassured him. “It’s not, it doesn’t hurt.”

 

“Explain bad, then.” Tony looked at him sharply. Did he look concerned too? Or suspicious? Steve really couldn’t tell. “Because ‘bad’ is a big ball of vagueness.”

 

“It makes me feel sick, to know that I had no choice to obey it, that someone was able to make me do something I had no say in.” He looked down at his hands, rubbing them together a little.

 

“…Well now I feel really fucking bad, but I would also be a bad scientist if I didn’t point out that you said “had,” so that seems like it’d be more an after effect, Steve, not like what you’re feeling when you’re obeying it.” Tony was still looking at him as he spoke, and Steve had a feeling it was more concern and scientific scrutiny now.

 

“It doesn’t feel good,” Steve stated firmly.

 

Two sets of eyebrows quirked up at that.

 

“Uh… I’m pretty sure neither of us suggested that one pup, which is bit telling there.”

 

Steve squeezed his hands together wordlessly.

 

“So, we’re apparently playing the opposite game here where bad means good, huh? How does it feel good?” Tony placed a hand lightly on Steve’s leg which made him startle slightly.

 

“It doesn’t feel good,” he managed softly, unable to look at either of them. “It just makes things feel different. Like, like something is clicking inside.”

 

“Good clicking? Bad clicking?” Tony asked and Steve shrugged.

 

“Like when you stretch, and your spine pops into place right when you didn’t know it was out of whack to being with.”

 

“Well that sounds pretty nice to me,” Bruce pointed out.

 

“It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t feel like that. It shouldn’t feel GOOD to be forced into obedience by some sort of side effect. That’s not what I signed up for.”

 

“If it even is a side effect, at all.”

 

“It is, Tony. It has to be.”

 

“We’re still investigating that, puppy. Let’s not worry about the cause right now, just the effect.”

 

“Fine, as long as you’re still actually investigating and haven’t just decided that I’m just more fun like this,” he spoke bitterly even as he realized it was an unkind thing to say.

 

Tony just laughed. He wasn’t exactly one to be ridden with guilt for cheating before. “Like I need your little party trick to get you hot and bothered.” He leaned over and pressed a playful kiss against Steve’s lips. Before Steve could react, he was already talking again. “Alright then, it feels good you just don’t like that it does. Good, we can work with that.”

 

“That is not at all what I said,” Steve protested. “You’re twisting things.”

“That’s pretty much how he lives his life, Steve. You get used to it.”

 

“I prefer to think of it as a skill, a skill that lets me hear what people REALLY mean. Now then, that’s settled. Let’s talk about us.” Tony reached across Bruce to give him a pat on the leg. “Can I try to give you an order? Scientific curiosity and all? Maybe it can help us all get over how dumb Bruce and I approached it before. Just remember you can say no, right? Bruce would probably go green if I didn’t listen to you saying no now that he’s feeling so guilty about it.”

 

Steve tightened his lips slightly as he thought it over, then nodded. They’d stopped when he said no before.

 

“Great! Lay out over our lap again. That’s an order,” Tony said firmly.

 

“Uhg, Tony,” Steve glared, ignoring the pleasant flutter in his stomach as he crawled out over their laps. He really should have known what the order was going to be if Tony had stated interest in helping to get over the previous experience.

 

Tony patted his lower back, getting a little too close to… “Watch your hands, Stark!” Steve barked out.

 

The hand was moved aside with a chuckle. “Well it’s right there, so perky and practically shiny.”

 

“Tony, we’re talking now,” Bruce chided firmly, rubbing his thumb firmly over the back of Steve’s neck.

 

“Fine, fine. You feeling ok?”

 

Steve nodded. It didn’t take long for him to close his eyes and relax to the feeling of Bruce’s fingers.

 

“You’re a really good man, Steve Rogers. We like you, Pepper liked you in the five minutes she actually met you. She called gushing over you and told Tony that if he corrupts you too far, she’ll do unspeakable things to him with her high heels.”

 

“I duly warned her that I would only like it.”

 

“Regardless,” Bruce continued, “you’re a good fit here, Steve. We want you here. You could belong here.”

 

“I don’t—” Steve began, but Bruce just squeezed the back of his neck gently to quiet him.

 

“If I can belong somewhere, Steve, so can you.”

 

Steve swallowed hard, because who could argue with Bruce Banner about something like that.

 

“I’m a man out of time,” He said softly, remembering the words Loki spoke to him.

 

Bruce just ran a hand through his hair. “You’re not out of time, at all. Stay here with us. We’ve been enjoying ourselves with you, not just for your body, Steve. We’ve enjoyed your company, as well, and we think you’ve enjoyed ours, or well, mine anyway.”

 

“Hey! That was offensive; I feel offended.”

 

Steve smiled, “Yes, I’ve enjoyed your company.”

 

“Nothing ever has to go farther than what we’ve been doing. The first time was a mistake; I hope you can see that now. When you say stop, we stop, even though Tony will undoubtedly whine. You are safe here.”

 

Which was a crazy concept. Steve had never been safe anywhere in his life. Not in the shady streets he’d grown up on, or in the little motels he’d been put up in during his touring, certainly not on the battlefield. Even now, he didn’t feel safe in the little apartment SHIELD had given him. It was undoubtedly being monitored and bugged for their convenience.

 

“I won’t want anything beyond what we’ve done, not yet, maybe not ever,” He spoke cautiously. “And I especially won’t do what Tony is no doubt thinking about.”

 

“Just sloppy make outs and touches? Fine. Pouting, but fine.”

 

“Good, I think that’s enough for tonight. Too much at once might be a bad idea. We’ll talk more about this again. How about another movie?”

 

“Brokeback Mountain?”

 

“No, Tony.”

 

They watched the second Toy Story. Tony suspiciously got some lint in his eye when Jesse started to sing her song, but Bruce and Steve were nice enough to let it go. Then bedtime rolled around and Steve was asked if he would mind staying with them again on the futon. He hesitated, thinking of what he’d seen in the night, but relented knowing how much better he’d slept with the company.

As he was settling in, Steve suddenly realized that he hadn’t exercised at all that day. He couldn’t remember when that had happened last. His workout had become a needed part of his life. He knew it was a childish fear, but part of him was convinced that if he didn’t put his muscles to use at least once a day, then the serum would reverse itself and he would be trapped again in that frail, useless body. So to have had a workout not even occur to him was a scary thing. He resolved as he fell asleep to fix that in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating! Girlfriend and I have been enjoying making costumes then attending a fun convention in them, it left us a bit busy. Putting up a nice long chapter though, so hopefully that makes up for it!

And fix it he did. He worked out all morning, and then joined the others back in the lab. It became a routine. Sometimes Tony would be there, sometimes Bruce, sometimes both were, chattering back and forth in excitement over some discovery. They still did tests on him, and sometimes they had him test out pieces of equipment; nothing too dangerous, just things that a regular human probably shouldn’t be messing with without a super-strength one testing it, first. Steve was happy to do it, especially when he’d found out that Tony usually just tested them on himself, anyway. He gave careful feedback and offered suggestions for improvements that both men took seriously. 

Sometimes, though, he just settled into a quieter corner of the lab while they worked, and read on the tablet they had filled for him with important books they felt he should know about. After some initial confusion on how to work it, Steve found that he had gotten the hang of it fairly easily for both reading and playing the silly little games Tony insisted on showing him. He’d felt a little swell of personal pride over having tackled a piece of 21st century technology. Pride, another deadly sin down, he thought to himself in amusement when he realized. 

The mornings and afternoons were spent pleasantly; the evenings were his own private torment. Tony was true to his word, he was patient, more patient than he had thought possible of the man even when he was being a terrible temptation and tease. And tease Steve they did, always petting and stroking, kissing and whispering little naughty things right up against his ears in a way that turned them bright red every time. Light touches and caresses were stroked over him as the two men would easily guide him back and forth between their laps while he panted and squirmed. It would continue every evening, and every evening it got a little farther, he let himself get a little bit more comfortable before he felt himself gasping out for them to stop. They always would, even when they themselves were just as flushed and panting as he was. Sometimes they would “shower” after, other times they would simply fix dinner. It was like a game of chicken with himself, to see how far he could go, and he liked it more than he could ever admit. Ice became Steve’s best friend. Every session he would end up using it whenever he was clear of the two. 

Once, Tony had caught him mid-act and simply laughed, telling him he should at least wrap the cubes in a cloth so he didn’t get any more freezer burn than he already might have. He wasn’t the only one caught mid-act, though. He found himself waking in on more than one occasion of those soft moans behind curtains. Sometimes he was able to ignore it, but sometimes he was unable to help watching. It was never quite clear through the curtains, but his imagination was more than happy to fill in the details. Sometimes Bruce was on top, sometimes Tony, but there seemed to be no sort of “submission” in them that they seemed to view in him. No “pup,” just two men meeting in intimate carnal sin.

Pepper called almost every day. Steve learned that Tony had been forbidden under any circumstance to call her because he tended to forget little things like “time zones,” and had a habit of calling her at 3 in the morning to whine that he was bored. At first, Steve tried to make himself scarce during the call, not wanting to eavesdrop. He saw the way Tony would snap up the phone a little quicker and Bruce would put down whatever task he was working on whenever they heard it belt out the lines to a song about a woman being caught in some sort of illicit romance. Gaga, Tony had informed him when he finally asked, which Steve interpreted to mean Tony thought he was crazy for not knowing the song. Bruce had finally filled him in later about the singer.

This was personal time between the three of them. That’s what made it so surprising when he tried to slip off and Tony made an impatient snapping sound to call him back, shoving the phone in his ear. He fumbled it a little awkwardly, trying not to crush the ridiculously tiny device in his fingers.

“Hello, ma’am?”

“Still ma’am?” he could hear her laughing lightly over the phone. “Oh good, Tony hasn’t broken you too much.”

“I… no?”

“I wanted a chance to talk to you, too. You can’t let Tony hog the phone all to himself. Don’t you see the way Bruce has to take it? He’s greedy.”

Steve glanced over at Tony and laughed at seeing Bruce with two arms wrapped around Tony’s waist as the other man made annoyed grabby hands at the phone.  
“Yeah, I might have noticed that ma’am.”

“Don’t take my stuff! That’s my Pep!”

Bruce was laughing, and Steve ducked into the kitchen so he could hear Pepper better. They ended up talking for a long while. She asked him how things were at the tower, and he tried to answer back as best as he could without blushing. He didn’t talk about any sort of touching, obviously, and she didn’t ask. She told him about how things were going in Japan, thankfully not the business end, but what she would do when she could escape the business world and enjoy herself for a few hours at a time. It felt nice; it was probably the longest conversation he’d ever had with a woman.

“Alright, let me talk to Bruce, now, ok? Don’t let Tony take the phone or he’ll never give it up. I’ll call again tomorrow. It was nice talking to you, Steve.”

Steve smiled. “It was really nice to talk to you, too, ma’am.”

“I’ll talk to you again, tomorrow. Oh, get a kiss from them both for me.” He could hear a slight little smirk in her tone as she said it, and it made him blush a little and stammer.

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

And that was how he learned that it was really ok to be doing what he was doing, at least by Miss Pepper Pott’s book, and she seemed like a very classy dame. Strong, fierce, independent, she reminded him heartbreakingly of Peggy. He was added into the regular rotation of the phone, and even though Tony whined about Steve taking “Pepper time,” he would still look over and smile when he saw Steve laughing over something Pepper had said or talking to her happily about some artist they both knew about. It didn’t hurt that after each phone call Pepper would tell him to go get her kisses for her, since that was something Bruce and Tony were more than happy to oblige.

Soon, the three of them talked more about things that made Steve want to melt into the floor rather than discuss. Things like safe words and color codes, like making lists of yes’s, no’s and maybe’s, what would be ok to introduce in the middle of play and what should be talked about long beforehand, how Steve would feel about being regularly given orders as long as he could use that safe word. It made Steve leery to even think about that one. Tony was so quick to point out, though, that exploring whatever was happening with Steve might help them to figure it out and its limits, you know, for science. So they started to experiment with it, all within careful boundaries Steve had set. Little things: Bruce would order him down onto his knees at meal time and they would both take care to feed him properly; Tony liked to order him to sit down so he could hop into his lap or to fetch him coffee, which Steve would do, but make sure to point out how lazy the other man was being the entire time. He didn’t like to tell them about the little content feeling that curled in his stomach whenever he obeyed an order and they praised him, that would be ridiculous.

It had been three weeks since his arrival, give or take a day or so. Steve honestly wasn’t really sure on the exact number. Between lab time, phone calls, flavorful dinners, work outs, and some heavy petting, days seemed to blend into an easy casualness here. He quietly washed the dishes, dragging a sponge over a greasy plate. He knew there was a dishwasher, but it was a ridiculously complex unit. There was no way he was going to be able to figure out how to use it without a tutorial, and besides, he didn’t mind the quiet moment. There had been few since he came here. Even his sparring now often featured Tony, and once, with a lot of goading and pushing, Bruce. That had been nerve wracking for both Steve and Bruce, each touching the other with kid gloves. Only Tony seemed to revel in the potential chaos he was creating. Steve could clearly hear Pepper yelling at Tony even through the tiny cell phone speaker that night. It’d made him and Bruce glance at each other before ducking into the other room to strand the other man. He deserved it.

He put away the last dish and untied the kitchen apron he’d been using. Tony had teased him mercilessly when he saw him wearing it, but the man was probably just jealous that Bruce trusted Steve enough in the kitchen to let him actually use an apron and help him out. There were many sciences Tony could master. Cooking was not one of them. Steve knew that Bruce and Tony were cleaning up the lab and would be up soon. He wondered what he should do about that.

His body was already reacting to what that meant for it. He was getting better around them. He still blushed and squirmed and stammered at any session they had, even three weeks of touching wasn’t going to put an end to that. He was starting to feel comfortable, though. They always stopped when it was about to go too far for him, and he was starting to feel more in control because of that, safer. Right now, knowing they would probably come up from the labs soon ask if he would want to play a bit before dinner made him just a little nervous, it always did at first, but it also, and this was hard to admit to himself, gave him a slight feeling of anticipation that settled in his stomach. Perhaps, just this once, he wouldn’t be completely passive in their arms. It might be nice to make Tony eat crow for once about Steve being a ‘delicate little flower’ for them to play with. Even more so, Bruce had been looking a little tense the last day or so because a chemical compound wasn’t going his way. If he could make him smile a little…

He finished clearing the dishes and took a breath to steady himself before he made his way to the bedroom to change. He tugged off his clothing and put them into the nearby hamper. His clothing had long ago been moved to a drawer here and he dug through it, pulling out a tight pair of blue shorts, bicycle shorts, he remembered they were called. There had been a fleeting moment before his motorcycle when he’d considered buying a bicycle, and had bought the shorts out of curiosity. When he’d tried them on at home, though, he felt that the way they clung tightly to his groin and buttocks was far too lewd, and he wondered how people left the house in them. He’d only kept them because he didn’t like the idea of being so wasteful as to throw away a new article of clothing. 

Now, they could perhaps prove their usefulness. He slid them over his hips, adjusting them as he found them just as snug as he remembered. He walked over to the mirror to look at himself and he noticed his cheeks were slightly rosy, which would have thrilled Tony were he there to see it. The shorts left very little to the imagination as they hugged over him. Should he really be doing this? Perhaps he should at least put a shirt on. He pulled out a shirt and started to slide it over his head before pausing. Right, Tony eat crow, make Bruce smile.

He shook his head and tossed the shirt back into the drawer before he walked into the living room. 

He just barely beat the other two. He heard the elevator chime and with his quick reflexes he bounded over to it and dropped down to his knees in front of it, arms back into the parade rest position. It was a position they sometimes still had him kneel down into before dinner. It made him feel relaxed, always thinking of his training days, when he placed his arms behind his back. Tony would stroke his hair and shoulders like he had before in the gym and Bruce would either order food or put something on the stove to start cooking before they took turns feeding him.

Steve lowered his eyes to the ground and felt a smirk pull at the corners of his lips as the chatter that had been going on in the elevator cut off abruptly. It was always a victory when one could render Tony Stark speechless, no matter how temporary. Mission accomplished.

Bruce was quicker to recover. 

“Well, well, what a nice surprise our puppy has decided to give us.” 

Steve felt Bruce’s hand cup his cheek and he shifted his head towards it, shyly pressing his lips against Bruce’s palm in a gentle kiss.  
“Oh… that’s very nice. Were you feeling playful, Steve?”

He nodded slightly, but felt a slight fear in his belly, and decided it would be wise to clarify what he was offering before he was dragged off to the bedroom and debauched. He was feeling more adventurous, but there was a line he wasn’t ever going to cross with these games.

“I… Don’t want these pants to come off… but…” he found himself unable to finish the sentence, his embarrassment getting the better of him. Tony was quick to help out, though.

“But we can do whatever we want as long as those shorts stay on, that’s what you’re saying, isn’t it, pup? Fuck, love it.”  
Steve laughed and nodded quickly. For once he was grateful for Tony’s blunt forwardness.

“Yeah, that’d be about it, Tony.”

Bruce patted his cheek. “Can we take it to the bed, Steve? It would be much easier to lay you out to play, there.”

He hesitated at Bruce’s suggestion, his mind going to the moans and pants he’d heard more than once on that bed. He raised his eyes up to look into Bruce’s own hopeful ones. He was safe, and he wanted to give in to the need to please him, so he relented with a slight tilt of his head.

“Just don’t let Tony maul me too bad if I fall asleep, after.”

They shared laughter, and then he was pulled up and kissed, by one then the other. He jumped in surprise as Tony’s hand made its way to his butt and patted firmly. The man did have an obsession.

“Above the pants play ok here, too?” Tony checked, and Steve almost laughed at the hopeful tone. He thought it over and reddened a little before he nodded. It was met with an immediately tighter grip that had Steve groaning softly, hiding his face in Bruce’s chest a little bashfully at his own reaction.

“Oh, he does want to play. Don’t you, pup?”

“Shut up, Tony, and the shorts really aren’t coming off. I’ll safeword your butt, then cream it in the training room the second I feel a finger under the hem.”

Both scientists laughed and were quick to lead him to the bedroom, as though they were afraid he would change his mind. The curtains were drawn back just enough for him to crawl onto the bed. Bruce and Tony followed. He had never been on their bed before, and the silk sheets slid smoothly against his bare skin. 

“Well, he’s finally in our clutches, what to do with this delightful little pup?” Tony pretended to curl his mustache in a maniacal manner that made Steve relax, then snort and hit his arm.

“What, indeed,” Bruce beamed, clearly proud of Steve and his decision, and placed his hands on his shoulders, pushing him down and pinning them lightly to the bed. “Let’s start out slow, see where it takes us, ok?”

Leave it to Bruce to sense his nervousness even when he was being forward with them. They petted his arms and legs gently until he was relaxed more into the bed. Only then did the pets turn into true caresses. Tony quickly found his way to his chest and was mercilessly rubbing and flicking his thumbs over his nipples. It made Steve gasp and bite his lip slightly to hold back a moan.

“God, do you know how much I’ve wanted to play with these without your shirt in the way, pup?”

Steve huffed with laughter and arched as Tony’s calloused thumb grazed firmly against one of his nipples. “Yeah, I do, you keep telling me every time you touch them.”

Then he felt Bruce’s warm hand palming his crotch, and any notion he had of keeping some sort of dignified quietness while they played with him was dashed away.

“Bruce!” he gasped out.

“Is this ok?”

Steve nodded his consent quickly and Bruce smiled down at him. 

“Good, then let us hear you.” 

He groaned and whined as Bruce’s hand traced up his length. The shorts were so thin he could feel the heat of the man’s hand as he cupped him. Thick fingers squeezed at the tip of him and he grunted, his hips jerking towards the touch eagerly. Bruce just laughed and placed a hand on his side to still him as he stroked and played. 

“I told you, pup, he has a touch fetish… he could stroke you for hours and be happy, it’s enough to drive you wild.”

He looked up at Tony pleadingly, and just might have whimpered because he really didn’t think he could take hours of those fingers playing at his member.

Tony chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, Steve, I’ll find something to distract you.”

He watched as Tony stripped off his shirt and leaned over him at an angle that didn’t hamper Bruce’s play. He startled slightly as he felt cool metal bite slightly into his chest. 

“Sorry, pup, it’s a little cold if you’re not expecting it,” Tony spoke softly as their chests pressed together, and Steve realized this was his first time actually feeling the arc reactor in Tony’s chest. It was strange, he could feel something similar to a hum from it reverberating into his own chest. It was almost soothing, like a purr from a mother cat, not that Steve would be mentioning that to Tony anytime soon. 

He felt Tony’s hand slid behind his head while his looked down at him.  
“We’ve been doing an awful lot of kissing you, pup, but I don’t think you’ve ever made a move to kiss us. Let’s fix that, hmm?” And then he just laid there pressed against Steve, exasperatingly expectant.

Steve hesitated before sucking in a nervous breath and leaning forward, his first forward kiss to a man. He was surprised that he still somehow felt a twinge of guilt over it, with all of the kissing the men had done to him. Tony’s lips made it difficult for the feeling to last for long, though. Steve had gathered over the past few weeks that Tony seemed to have a fascination with his lips. The fact that Tony had told him so once in graphic detail about how they were far too ‘sinfully plush’ looking to have ever been on Captain America’s mouth had also been a giveaway. Between kisses he would bite and tug at his lips to the point where he would have easily bruised another man, sliding his tongue between them when Steve’s mouth would open into a gasp or moan. 

Between Bruce’s play at his member and Tony’s ravishing of his mouth, he felt himself edging closer and closer to a climax. This time, though, he made a conscious decision that he would let it happen. He had known he would going into this game. No ice, no taking care of it later while they slept, something that made him feel insanely guilty whenever it happened. He was almost there, at that peek, could feel it drawing up into his nethers. He moaned and squirmed, feeling sweat covering his body. His hips started to jerk slightly up into Bruce’s touch and one more stroke, just one more firm cup of that warm hand, and he knew he would be there.

He was so disoriented by the sudden removal of Bruce’s hand that it took him a moment to realize why he wasn’t feeling himself topple into climax. He let out an embarrassingly loud whimper of frustration against Tony’s lips. It was worse when he lost that contact, too, when they both settled back onto their haunches to just LOOK at him and his disheveled, debauched form. If they were trying to make him not feel self-conscious, then this was an awful plan.

“What… are you doing?” he managed to pant out as he forced himself onto his elbows to look at them. He felt his frustration rise as both men exchanged glances. It really wasn’t fair that even when he’d SURPRISED them they made mutual decisions about what to do in the situation that he wasn’t a part of. He stared at them tensely until Tony’s hand rubbed over his belly and despite his aggravation he felt himself settling.

“Don’t get prissy, pup, we just noticed you were getting pretty damn close to blowing it.”

“We wanted to make sure that was where you wanted this to head,” Bruce explained.

Oh. Well, now he felt a little silly. They’d been so careful with consent with him after their first blunder, and he hadn’t even thought of voicing it to them on this occasion. This was on his list of “yellow” and a definite “ask before doing,” and here he was expecting them to just do it.

“Yeah. That’s where it was headed.” He nodded a little. “I’d like it to head back there, quickly.”

Tony looked exuberant. “That’s my boy! But hey, we’d like to have some fun ourselves. Now, these can’t come off right?” Steve felt Tony’s slide a finger over the waistband of his shorts and he shook his head vehemently.

“Absolutely not.”

“Ok, that’s fine, pup, but WE are going to get more comfortable, if that’s ok with you.”

He was confused only until he saw Tony’s hand linger at the zipper of his own pants. He opened his mouth in question only to feel a pair of Bruce’s fingers stroke lightly against his kiss swollen lips so he could explain.

“Not you, just us, if you’re ok with it. You’re safe, puppy. Your shorts are staying on, remember?”

“Do… do you promise?” He hated how shy and soft he sounded, but this was a bigger step and he needed the verbal communication. He needed to know they wouldn’t force him and it would feel better to hear the confirmation of safety out loud again.

“I promise, Steve. We promise.” Bruce looked down at him seriously.

“…Ok, yes.” He tried to avert his eyes, then shook his head and made himself watch as Bruce unbuttoned his own shirt and slipped it off. His chest wasn’t the mass of defined muscle his own was. It was still firm, though, covered in a layer of dark wiry hair, quite the contrast to his own smooth chest. There was a trail of dark curls leading down his stomach into his pants. Steve gulped slightly as said pants were unfastened and removed. He was surprised to see that Bruce didn’t seem to care much for undergarments, and not so surprised that his excitement for the current situation was quite clear. His erection bobbed slightly as he chucked his pants over the edge of the bed. 

“Nice isn’t it? Thick.” Tony practically purred in approval as he looked over Bruce. Steve was really going to have to stop making cat analogies for him.

Steve didn’t really know how to evaluate another man’s member, but Tony’s choice of “thick” definitely seemed to cover it. He looked over to Tony who winked and had clearly been waiting for Steve’s attention to be on him before he disrobed. Ever the showman, he fiddled teasingly with the hem of his pants, making a show of slowly pulling them off, then his boxers—really? Iron man boxers? Did his vanity have no limits? Steve laughed a little. 

“Hey now, no laughing when another man’s undressing, that’s just cold!” Tony protested.

“Well, your underwear!”

“Oh, these? A gift. Friends give me things.” He saw Tony grin, then perhaps relax slightly? Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised him that underneath his bravado even Tony could have moments of insecurity. It made him feel better, more comfortable with the situation.

But when Tony shimmied out of his ridiculous boxers Steve saw there was really no need for the man to be insecure at all.

And there he was in a bed with two naked men. It was unnerving and ridiculous and more than a little terrifying. Bruce’s hand back on his member and playing helped distract him a little.

“Green?” he asked quietly before he moved his hand further.

“Green,” Steve agreed, letting his head drop back onto the bed.

“Good, just move your hips against my hand, puppy.” He was being fondled again and his erection quickly took on a renewed interest in the situation. It was awkward at first to move his hips against Bruce’s palm, but he managed to work out a smooth rhythm eventually and the friction felt heavenly. 

He heard the soft snick of a bottle being uncapped and glanced over at Tony who was pouring something into his hand. 

“Lube, pup,” was the only explanation he got as he watched Tony slowly wrap his slicked hand around him own erection with a breathy sigh. His eyes widened as Tony stared down at him, eagerly, without shame. He fisted his member with an experienced ease, letting out a pleasured groan. It was appallingly crude and breathtaking to witness. He couldn’t tear his eyes away as the man pleasured himself while watching Steve’s own pleasure in return.

It didn’t last long. Both of them were eager, Steve especially with his inexperience and previous denial of climax. Soon Tony’s hand’s motions were faster, and there was an audible lewd slap as he began to rock his hips into both of his fisted hands.

“I’m thinking about you, pup, thinking about you when I do this,” he whispered, his eyes never leaving Steve’s. “Thinking about how amazing you look right now. How you’re being so good for Bruce. You make the best noises, Steve; all of those whimpers are so sweet and needy.” An emphasized rough rock of his hips. “Can I come on you? Shit, how did we not put that on any list? Fucking oversight. Can I blow it on you, pup? I’d really, really love to.”

It was too much, Tony’s vulgar words, the way his eyes raked over his body, how Bruce’s hands persistently massaged and squeezed his manhood. He barely managed to give Tony a nod before he cried out with passion and shut his eyes tightly as his back arched into a taut bow shape. 

“There, right there, do it, Steve, let us see,” Bruce encouraged and gave one last firm rub up his length.

He gripped the sheets with white knuckles as he gushed into his shorts, feeling himself pumping out what felt like enough ejaculate to render him dry. He heard Tony’s short grunt not long after his own and a softly muttered “Fuck, coming, Steve.” Then there was the sensation of warm, wet splatters dripping onto his chest, and he didn’t need to open his eyes to know what he would find there. He panted and looked up at Tony who was smiling down at him, his breathing sounded labored, as well.

“Fucking beautifully done, pup.”

Steve shook his head slightly because “beautiful” was still reserved for art and women, but Tony just leaned down to kiss him again.  
There was a slight clearing of a throat and Tony pulled away, snickering.

“Poor Bruce. He needs some love, pup.”

Oh.

He forced himself to sit up, his breathing still heavy. He looked at Bruce who was sitting on his knees, his manhood looked quite rigid as Steve eyed it.

“What should... I could…” Steve’s voice trailed off uncertainly.

“Will you like to play with me, puppy?” Bruce’s hand stroked over his cheek and he felt himself lean into the caress. Yes, he would play. It was surprisingly much easier to feel comfortable with that, with touching them, than what he’d just let happen, a green-lister even, just something they hadn’t quite worked up to before and now he felt like he was floating after his orgasm, like he was open to exploring. It made everything easier to agree to, some part of his mind told him that this entire thing was dangerous, letting himself go, but he pushed it aside and nodded. His agreement was met with a smile of approval from both men that made him feel even warmer inside.

“As much as I like that, take a breath, ok? I can wait for your head to clear a little.”

He nodded slightly in acknowledgement and let himself calm down, assess himself like they’d talked about, then nodded after several long minutes.

“Still on board.”

“Atta boy, pup …c’mon…” Tony’s hands went to his shoulders and he guided him until he was shifting to his knees, and why was he pushing him down… oh. 

He found himself face to face with Bruce’s swollen member. He swallowed nervously, realizing what was being requested.

“Still ok?” Bruce asked quietly. “It’s on your green list, but we can move it off.” He offered.

“No, no, it’s ok,” Steve answered a little breathlessly.

“You baby him too much. He can stop if he wants. Go on pup, give it a nice lick.”

“Tony, he doesn’t have to.”

“No, really.”

“See? He’s good. Show the worrier your non-verbals.”

He felt himself wavering but eager, and flicked his eyes up to Bruce to give a reassuring smile, then made the hand motions for stop, slow, and go. Bruce looked at him thoughtfully then nodded. His fingers threaded into Steve’s hair, and he was being pulled closer. Bruce’s tip pressed against his—thanks to Tony—now over-sensitized lips, so hot it felt like it was scorching them. Steve’s tongue flicked out to wet them and in the process slid out against Bruce. The flavor that met his tongue was strong, musky, and there was something he couldn’t place that made it so uniquely Bruce that his tongue snaked out and he lapped at the head with curiosity and more than a little want.

“Mm… that’s nice, puppy.” He heard Bruce groan above him, his hands gripped into his hair more tightly, pulling at his locks.

Steve made a small noise of agreement in the back of his throat because it was nice, it was so nice. The taste and scent were making him feel hot inside again. Without prompting, he pressed his lips around Bruce’s tip in a circle and pushed down until his mouth was being filled with that hot, smooth shaft. His sudden eagerness took both Bruce and Tony by surprise, but they were so quick to encourage him in his endeavors. Tony stroked and rubbed over his back, leaning down to match Steve’s angle so he could whisper praise and plant wet kisses along his ear. Bruce was more vocal, but less articulate. Steve’s hair was pulled tighter, so tight it almost hurt, but that only made the desire curling up in his stomach stronger. 

He sucked wetly, listening with a small spark of pride in his chest at Bruce’s groaned out pleasure with his actions.

“Fuck, look at him sucking at you. He didn’t even need a whit of instruction. He loves it, too. We’ve got a little cocksucker on our hands here, Bruce.”

Steve felt himself flush at Tony’s ever vulgar language and worried on some level that it might be true, but Bruce just seemed encouraged by it. He was leaking into his mouth now, and it was starting to drip onto his tongue. It was bitter, not in a bad sort of way. He swallowed around Bruce, which had the unintended effect of drawing the man deeper into his mouth with a small lewd slurp.

“Look at him swallowing your pre. He’s close, pup. He’s going to shoot that salty load right into your mouth if you don’t pull back,” Tony both encouraged and warned as he stroked a hand down his back.

Steve grunted and managed a curt nod of his head, reaching a hand up to give the go. He was ready, he was wanting. He forced away the brief stirring in his mind that was telling him just how wrong this all was, that no man would ever reduce himself to this. He wanted it. He wanted to feel Bruce’s climax. He wanted to be good. He wanted to be here, with them.

“A-Ah, Steve!” Bruce’s gruff cry preceded his orgasm only by a split second. Steve felt it gushing into him, filling his mouth. Its heady taste was washing over his tongue and he trembled at the strength he tasted there. It was almost too much. Part of him argued that swallowing would be unnatural and worse than what had already occurred, but he forced it down again and looked up at Bruce, watched as the man’s eyes, which were serenely closed, began to flutter open slowly and look down at him through his thick lashes.  
Then he gulped it down in one determined swallow.

When he heard Bruce and Tony both moan in unison when they saw that, he didn’t regret the decision for an instant.

“Oh, puppy, you were so good.”

“Fucking phenomenal.”

Steve managed a small smile at that, because he could tell they weren’t just being kind. Their spilling was proof of that. They had genuinely enjoyed him, and he had pleasured them. He felt part of himself practically twist in pleasure at the thought. Sometimes he had to wonder if their assessment of “puppy” for them wasn’t all too fitting.

“You… it… It felt nice,” He admitted a little softly. “All of it.”

“You might want to clean up, Steve. We could help?” Bruce suggested.

Steve shook his head quickly. He knew Bruce wanted to be close by as part of the “after care” they’d discussed, but that felt too private, still.

“I’ll be ok on my own, I’ll be fast.”

“Then you get right back here. We finally got you onto this bed; we want you sleeping between us.”

“We didn’t even eat dinner yet, Tony.”

“Fine. Nap, then dinner.”

Steve looked down at his torso and saw the splatters of semen Tony had left, not to mention the wet patch slowly spreading through his shorts wasn’t exactly pleasant. Yes, it was definitely time to clean up. 

“Ok, could we maybe have cheeseburgers?” He gave them a hopeful look.

“Fuck, Steve, I’ll buy you an entire cow after that breakthrough, there,” Tony promised.

Steve rolled his eyes as he slid off the bed with wobbly legs. “Just some cheeseburgers will do, Tony, thank you.” He made his way to the bathroom for a quick cleanup and to change into less constricting boxers for sleep. 

When he made his way back out, he paused with uncertainty before the bed. Both Bruce and Tony were already curled up and looked about halfway to sleep, Bruce perhaps more so with his eyes closed and his breathing heavier. It would be easier to just go back to his cushion for a nap where he wouldn’t be inviting anything else or separating them.

He saw Tony’s head pop up to gaze over in his direction. “Well? Come on, Steve, come get cozy.” 

Tony beckoned with a little wave of his hand and Steve complied. He climbed back onto the bed, oofing slightly when Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him down so that he lay on his side between them, facing Bruce. Tony was quick to sidle up against his back and make any gap between them nonexistent. It was warm there, even without blankets, especially when a sleep-addled Bruce slipped an arm over both him and Tony, then placed a dreamy kiss on his forehead while Tony simultaneously gave the back of his shoulder a wet kiss. In that moment, he felt like he belonged there. Right there. Between them.


	11. Chapter 11

Things became even more different after that. After some discussion, the futon was put away and he found himself settled into bed between two warm bodies every night. He’d opened his drawer the very next day and discovered it packed with bicycle shorts of different colors. He had laughed and thrown a pair at Tony’s head. He wasn’t even sure where either of them had found the time to do it.

It took some gentle encouragement from Bruce but eventually he found himself being talked into wearing them, and only them, around the tower more and more. It was a little embarrassing, how naked he felt, but the other two seemed to enjoy it to no end. It was especially embarrassing how somehow Miss Potts had been sent of picture of it, as well. Steve suspected Tony, who in turn blamed JARVIS, and Pepper wasn’t giving either of them up. She had simply laughed a bit at Steve’s flustered sounding tone when she asked about them, then asked to talk to Tony who proceeded to give her such an elicit detail of everything he was seeing when he looked at Steve that Steve had finally darted out of the room in mortification.

Still, the wardrobe change did have its benefits. Bruce and Tony would casually stroke over his bare chest and back or fondle him lightly throughout the day. Their constant gentle handling left his body in a low simmering state of arousal all throughout the day, even as they worked or he trained. His shorts still never came off. They may have been revealing, but he still felt more comfortable in them. Bruce and Tony never complained, though; ok, Tony only complained a little, and never once gave up his dirty talk. Still, both scientists had found a more pleasant way to spend the time instead of trying to coax the pants off him.

In the weeks that followed after he joined their bed, he had found himself on his knees at all hours of the day, sucking them, lathing his tongue all along their members until they spilled between his lips. The very next morning, between stroking, petting and coaxing whispers, they’d convinced him to give Tony the same treatment he’d bestowed on Bruce the night before. This time, it had been less rushed. Bruce had given Steve gentle instructions and suggestions as he first explored curiously with his fingers, then mouthed at Tony’s cock. At first he blushed madly as he took it in, in the heat of the moment it had felt right, but in the bright light of morning such an act seemed so much more licentious. Still, Tony had groaned and arched under him, draped out wantonly across the bed and in the end he had uttered a warning, then a curse, and Steve felt his length being pushed even deeper into his mouth, bumping the back of his throat as it gushed forth. He’d gagged slightly and felt Tony’s bitter semen dribble out of his mouth. Bruce was quick to pull him back and pat his back as he coughed.

Tony had popped his head up off the bed and given him an apologetic look. “My bad. It gets easier with practice.”

Bruce and Steve both smothered him with a pillow.

So practice they had, all morning in fact, more practicing and instructions, back and forth, until Steve’s lips felt stretched and swollen red and his shorts were tented. It surprised and embarrassed him, how much using his mouth aroused him. Both men had teased him and stroked over his puffy lips, applying some balm to them before working on breakfast. He’d thought that would be it for the day, but that evening on the couch they’d asked him to curl up on them again to watch TV. He hadn’t been feeling particularly interested in the show, so he was content to lay on them and rest with Tony’s arms draped over his stretched out legs, Bruce’s over his chest and patting, but then when he resettled to face them he couldn’t help but notice the warm bulge he was facing. Without thinking, he felt himself nuzzle over it, breathing in through his nose to catch Bruce’s scent through the loose slacks. Without even taking his eyes from the show Bruce had reached a hand down, cupping his cheek before moving down to unzip his hands and guide himself out.

“Have at it, pup,” he’d spoken softly, not instructing or ordering, just offering. As though he was thinking that Steve might have the need to have his mouth on something and presenting it to him. So Steve took the offer that night after only a moment’s deliberation, and then the next night when he was laid out in Tony’s lap. Then the next when they were eating lunch and Bruce noticed him glance at his pants and squirm slightly. It made him feel hot and flustered each time he sucked one of the thick, weighty members into his mouth.

At first, he hadn’t wanted any sort of reciprocation, turning them both down each time they offered to stroke him off through his pants while they played. He had let them stroke him to completion through his shorts again on a couple of occasions, but it took a while for him to be able to accept the idea of giving this while receiving attention in return, even though his body made its desires known. Each time he found himself giving his mouth to them, it would make his body feel hotter.

After a few days of such attentions, it finally became overwhelming, and when he had been on his knees at the foot of the bed he reached his breaking point. The heat pooling in his loins had been so bad that he couldn’t resist reaching a hand between his thighs to cup his own length, something he could barely bring himself to do one his own and had never done in front of them before. Before his fingers could even brush against himself, though, Tony had grabbed his wrists up, holding them over his head. He’d only laughed at Steve’s soft whine of protest.

“Naughty pup. If you wanted to play like that, you just had to ask,” Tony teased.

He’d forced himself to release Bruce’s length, panting lightly. “Are you saying I can’t touch myself?” he had asked incredulously.

“He’s not saying that at all, puppy.” Bruce, even in his heated state, was so quick to stroke his hair and calm any annoyance in him right away. “He’s simply saying that we’d like to take care of you and to hear you ask us, to voice what you need, not just take.”

He’d nodded breathlessly at that. Somehow Bruce always knew the right words. It made him feel the need to please him in return by saying the right words back to him.

“I want… please.” He rocked his hips slightly forward for emphasis.

“Want to please? You are QUITE pleasing already, pup,” Tony grinned, still holding his arms up. His grip was strong, but Steve knew he could break it if he wanted. That was part of the game, letting them still him. Steve was losing himself to them, all three of them, really. Pepper had gained a special place in his heart even though she was so far away. He was gaining so much in return, too; things he’d never even knew of before, things that made him feel hot and wanting and wanted in return. He was not just a super soldier, not just a small frail boy. He felt like a wanted friend, a needy puppy, wanting to please but not perfectly obedient, because who really wanted perfect obedience?  
That in mind, he wriggled enough in Tony’s grasp that the man had to readjust his grip.

“Hey! No fair using super strength.” Tony nudged his knee into his back in mock reprimand.

“You KNOW what I mean, Tony… please.”

“Nah-ah… not till you say it. You know, I haven’t heard one damn dirty word out of your lips since we’ve met. Hell and bastard don’t count. I mean a really dirty word. Now I want to hear them. You can’t even pretend you don’t know them because I’ve been telling you in QUITE vivid detail what we want to do to you, so you know.”

Bruce laughed lightly at that, and Steve gave up any hope that Bruce would be siding with him on this one. Yeah, he knew the words. He knew them even before Tony, even though the man had possibly expanded on Steve’s categorical knowledge of dirty words with how filthy his mouth got when he was turned on. That was saying a lot, because Steve was a military man and he’d heard a whole lot. He writhed a bit on his knees and let out a frustrated groan when Tony grazed a single finger over his length, barely light enough to even call it a tease.

“Tony, You KNOW how I feel about—”

“Cursing? Swearing? Fucking? Because I gotta tell yah, it’s hard to take any of that seriously when that’s the third time today I’ve seen Bruce’s pre-come glazed over your lips like they were a Krispy Kreme donut.”

Steve had no idea what a Krispy Kreme was, but he got the gist of the insinuation and flushed with anger and embarrassment. “TONY.”

“Go on. Tell me exactly what you want, pup. I’m patient. I’ve got all night. Look at poor Bruce, though. You’ve got him at half-mast, and that’s just cruel.”

He huffed slightly and leaned back down to take Bruce, who groaned in appreciation, back into his mouth. He was right; there was no need to ignore the other man’s needs just because Tony was being a horrible tease. He slurped and tongued a line up a thick vein on the underside of Bruce’s member, the way he remembered from a previous session that he liked it. He was treated to a moan and the sight of the other man clenching at the sheets a bit tighter. He would just ignore Tony.

Tony didn’t seem at all bothered by that, though. Steve felt his arms shifted so his wrists pressed into the small of his back.

“Keep ’em there, pup. Don’t even think about moving them,” Tony ordered into his ear and Steve felt him kneeling behind him, settling in the space between his legs. It wasn’t the first order he’d given while doing this, the first time had almost led to a bit of a freak-out on Steve’s part, and they’d stopped play and reassured him that they would always let him safe word out of any order. Further trials had been much more successful. Now, he just squirmed a little to get into a better position, and then there were wet kisses being trailed from the crook of his neck down his back. He shivered and fidgeted, losing the concentration he was so desperately trying to hold in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

He pulled back with a broken gasp. “Ok, ok, PLEASE, Tony, please. Just please touch it. I need it, ok?” He hated how his own voice sounded right then, so thick with emotion.

“Where, pup? Just tell me where. We’ll work with that, tonight,” he heard Tony croon into his ear smoothly.

“Touch it. Touch my c-cock, PLEASE,” he felt himself stammer out the word. A word a good Catholic schoolboy tried not to even think, let alone say out loud.

“That’s my boy! Listen to that sailor mouth.” He could HEAR the smug grin in Tony’s voice, it was that wide. It was infuriating, really.

His anger was drained away in the next moment, though, because Tony actually listened for once. There was touching, firm gripping and fondling at him through his taut shorts, and his body couldn’t take it. He was going to be making those embarrassing little whimpers that Tony loved if he didn’t do something with his mouth. He dipped back down to suck enthusiastically. The taste of Bruce on his tongue and Tony’s almost too fast, just a hair too rough, touch had him bucking and wrung an orgasm out of him that left him feeling boneless, leaning his body down against Bruce’s thighs. His mind, not for the first time, reinforced the connection between obedience, pleasure, and the thick taste of semen that Bruce spilled into his mouth. By then, it was second nature to swallow it down. His hands had never strayed once from his back.

“Good puppy.” He felt Bruce affectionately wipe the sweat from his brow.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve probably could have stayed like that until the end of time. Starks Tower was like a warm cocoon. It enveloped him. No, THEY enveloped him. They were always there, always around him. Even Pepper felt like a constant presence, and he looked forward to her coming home almost as much as Tony and Bruce did. The anxieties he had felt, the tension, the sleepless, aimless nights he spent before in his lonely gym were gone. They had been replaced with warm embraces, banter, steamy touches and the desire to suck and lick and mouth that was beginning to border on an obsession.

Life was never that easy, though, especially not for superheroes. It had been a lazy afternoon of the two scientists tinkering around in the lab all day while Steve sketched quietly, and on more than one occasion ducked under the work table to nuzzle a thigh and wordlessly request some play. During a light lunch with the three of them all sprawled around on the couch and floor, the call came in. Well, Steve supposed it still counted as a call even if it appeared on a giant video screen. He wasn’t even sure where that had come from. He’d never even seen it used before then.

He yelped and flipped around to duck behind the couch as it came in, because the last thing he wanted was to explain to the visage of Nick Fury was why he was lounging in Bruce’s lap, being handfed pieces of a sandwich by Tony, and clad only in a pair of skintight lime green bicycle shorts.

“Relax, Steve. I didn’t turn on our side of the video,” Tony spoke softly as he quirked an eyebrow at him and Steve practically collapsed in relief. He couldn’t even explain what was happening to himself.

“JARVIS, raise the mizzenmast!”

“I’ll assume you mean patch the video conferencing through, Sir. Done.”

“Avengers Assemble!” came Fury’s stern voice from the screen.

“Oh, really? Is that how we’re greeting now? That seems rather rude. Missed you, too, Nicky.”

“Perhaps he just enjoys the alliteration, Tony.”

Steve decided to just stay behind the couch. It felt better there. His world was crashing in. The problem with a cocoon was that it made one forget everything else that existed outside of the world, all of the problems and all of the things he should and shouldn’t have been doing, so that when it was cracked open he was exposed to it in a rush.

“Cut the bullshit, Stark. There’s been a disturbance. SHIELD’s systems were hacked—”

Tony waved his hand in protest. “Hey, it wasn’t me this time!”

Fury ignored him. “And pertinent information was taken on all of you. Classified information.”

“You know. For a group called SHIELD, you are terrible at protecting shit,” Tony grumbled.

 

“What do you want us to do about this, sir?” Bruce asked politely, but Steve could hear the worry in his voice, still. He knew that no one beyond SHIELD really knew where Bruce Banner had been hiding, and that was something they’d all wanted to keep that way.

“Come in, both of you. I’m contacting everyone and bringing you all in. This could be the beginnings of an attack, and we want to stop it before anything can even truly start.”

 

“Everyone? Do you have a hammer signal out for Thor?” Tony snarked.

 

“As a matter of fact, Stark, Dr. Selvig has developed a means of communication with him, and he is arriving soon.”

Even without seeing it, Steve could hear the frustration Fury was trying to keep out of his voice when talking with Tony.

“The only problem we’re having is locating Captain Rogers. He hasn’t been seen at his gym or apartment in two months. We’re worried something may have already happened to him.”  
Oh.

“Rogers is with us, sir,” Bruce spoke quietly, and Steve could see him nervously cleaning off his glasses from his vantage point.

“Rogers is with YOU?” Which Steve easily recognized as really asking ‘why haven’t him and Stark killed one another?’

Steve shrank in on himself a little more. Were they going to out him?

“Yeah, we’ve been using him for testing. He gets a bigger gym and food that doesn’t come out of a freezer box, and we get the perfect test subject, for science!” Tony threw his fist up in the air with that declaration, not at all deterred by Director Fury’s unamused glare.

 

“I see. Well then. If it’s not TOO much trouble, Mr. Stark, if you’ve finished causing potential harm to one of America’s national treasures, why don’t you kindly make your way to the Helicarrier.”

“Oh, well, that all sounds like a horrible plan,” Bruce smiled wryly.

“Horribly familiar, as well,” Tony agreed. “Tell you what. If this is so damn important how about you shift your ass over here to us, for once?”

 

“EXCUSE me?”

“Uh, of the two options, which one hasn’t been hacked multiple times—”  
“One of those was by YOU, Stark!”

Tony ignored him and continued, “—has enough rooms to house everyone, an Olympic-sized Jacuzzi AND isn’t going to crash if Bruce wakes up on the wrong side of the bed?”

There was a long pause.

“You know what? Fine. You want to babysit, you go right ahead. I’ll send the team down and a few—”

 

“Nope. No ‘and a few’s, just the team. I see one SHIELD agent here that doesn’t fire an arrow or wear a cat suit and I’ll have JARVIS hack into your files AGAIN and replace every image there with a lolcat.”

“Dammit, Stark!”

“Toodles, Nicky!” Tony called out cheerfully as he ended the call.

Steve slowly stood up from behind the couch and walked over to them, hesitating. Bruce held his arm out and pulled him into his lap. It was a comfort that would have felt right not 10 minutes before, but now everything made him feel unsure.

“Do you think it’s something we should be worried about Tony?” Bruce asked as he ran his fingers down Steve’s side.

“Nah, I’m SURE we can find enough lolcats relevant to the situation.”

“You KNOW what I mean.”

“We’ll be ok, Bruce. We’ve made it through worse.”

Steve watched as Tony got a rare serious look on his face and reached over to squeeze Bruce’s hand tightly, so much conveyed in such a small gesture.

He tried not to be upset about what this meant, but clearly it was something he couldn’t keep off his face because Tony took his one hand and Bruce took hold of the other.

Bruce gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “We will be ok, Steve. You know that, right?”

“Don’t.” He pulled his hands away quickly and stood up. “Not… not with them coming… we can’t do this.”

“Shhh…” He struggled slightly as he was pulled into Tony’s lap. “Let’s not be hasty. If you don’t feel comfortable yet about being open about this, that’s ok. For the record, though, that doesn’t for a second change what we have, pup. We’ll just have to keep it on the down-low if that’s what you want.”

“Open? Tony you can’t be serious—”

“Sure am, pup. It’s a whole new world, remember? And I’m happy to have Pepper, Bruce AND you in it. I don’t care who knows it, but I know you do. So for the next stretch of time, we’ll just have to put on a show.”

“A show,” Steve said flatly.

“Yes, I’ll pretend to tease you all the time and you pretend to be constantly annoyed at me.”

Both he and Bruce stared blankly at Tony.  
“See? I knew you could do it!”

Steve knew he was trying to help and neither of them were going to out him as their obedient little puppy, but he felt his heart sink anyway.  
“Where will I sleep?”

“With us.”

“Tony, even you know that won’t work if Steve wishes to keep this private, still.”

“Which I do. In case I really need to spell it out for you, Tony.” Because usually he really did.

“Well, fine. His old room is still there, I’m protesting this majorly but he can move back into there, temporarily.”

Steve took a breath and let it out slowly at that. That would work.  
“I’m going to move my stuff back.” He paused and looked down at himself uncomfortably. “And change.”

“Well THAT I protest, even more. I’m really regretting this decision, now.”

Steve yelped slightly and swatted Tony’s hand as he felt it stroke up his rump. “Tony! You can’t. You can’t do things like that when they get here, and I wouldn’t be wearing THIS at SHIELD either.”

“Well this, this here just SUCKS.”  
Steve was treated to seeing a grown man cross his arms and pout before he walked quietly back into their bedroom. Bruce and Tony’s bedroom, he corrected himself quietly. Wait, were THEY going to be a couple still with the others watching, or would they let the others assume it was just Tony and Pepper? He shook his head. It wasn’t his business.

He peeled off his shorts and tossed them in a hamper before he dressed in a pair of soft cotton pants and a plain white t-shirt. The difference was immediate. For garments so soft and loose, they felt constricting around him. He tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt. It was the first shirt he’d worn in a week or so, and it felt far too tight around his neck. He sighed. He’d been wearing shirts his whole life. He’d readjust. He gathered his things into a pile and walked out, not glancing back at the other men as he made his way down to his old room. It was as empty as he had left it, like a crisp hotel room. Clean, but free of sentimental attachment. Of course, he’d only been in there for a few days so he hadn’t had long to get attached, really. It didn’t take long to get his clothes and a couple of other possessions put away.

He sat down heavily on the bed and sighed. This was alone time, and it was rare now, but he found he didn’t want it. He wanted to be settled in with someone, two someones, as they watched science shows, chatted on the phone with Pepper, sparred with him, sent him back forth between them to kiss, or let him nuzzle the thick bulges in their pants and suck them into his mouth while they stroked over—

He groaned to himself. This was going to be horrible. Just awful.

He walked back out and down to the gym. The need to work out was itching under his skin already. He stayed there for hours even though a voice in his head told him he should be upstairs with them. He should be enjoying the small bit of quiet with them before the others were there, but he stayed down there and punched away at a punching bag Tony had put together special for him. He’d been using it for a week or two now and though it looked a bit worse for wear, it miraculously hadn’t broken. When he’d mentioned to Tony that it was a miracle, the man had looked almost insulted and insisted that his science beat miracles any day.

Steve let himself smile at the memory. He was going to be ok. This was going to be ok. He still couldn’t define what ‘this’ was, but he knew people together spent time apart, just look at Pepper. She had been gone for over a month and Tony and Bruce were handling it well enough. He would just look at it like that. Like the Bruce and Tony he would see at the dinner table tonight would be in fact a different Bruce and Tony, steady comrades, trusted friends, nothing else.

He only hoped his body would listen to him on the entire situation.

There was a loud clap of thunder, loud enough to rattle even the padded walls surrounding him, and he knew it was show time. He took his time doing a few cool down exercises and a long leisurely shower. When he felt he had prolonged enough, he redressed into nice, normal, uncomfortable clothing, and went to the living area where he suspected he would find the others.

He saw a flashing blur of red and blonde the second he left the elevator before he was enveloped in a crushing hug.  
“Captain Rogers! It is most excellent to see you well!” Thor’s booming voice echoed in his ears.

Steve wheezed slightly because Thor could crush the life even out of him, and awkwardly patted the other man’s back before he was finally let go.  
“It’s good to see you, too, Thor.”

“Hello, Captain.”  
He looked over to the couch and saw Natasha perched there, cleaning her gun as she watched him. Clint was beside her, carefully fletching an arrow. “Cap.”

Steve smiled at them, and he was surprised to find it genuine. He felt badly about being upset before by their coming. These were his fellow soldiers and it was good to see them well even if it did make this different.

“Clint, Natasha.” He walked over to hold his hand out to them. Both seemed slightly amused by his formality, but shook it. “What do you two make of all of this? Does SHIELD have any more information?”

 

“What I make of all this, Cap, is paid sabbatical.” Clint set down the arrow he was working on and propped his already bare feet up on the table with a relaxed sigh. “Have you SEEN this place? The room Stark gave me has a bathroom in it with a tub I could swim laps in.”

Natasha pursed her lips slightly. “He means we don’t really think it’s a threat. After Loki, however, not much feels like a threat. Better to be on prevention mode than to ignore it, though.”

Loki. Steve glanced over at Thor at the mention of his brother’s name. He saw the usually beaming face fall slightly.

Thor seemed to notice the look and nodded to him. “Loki is still facing punishment for his crimes against your world. We try daily to reach through his hardened shell and to the youthful, loving brother I once had. It is a trying time for all of us.” He paused slightly before continuing, “I do not mind the break.”

Steve gave him a firm pat on the back. What had happened had been horrible, but Thor had possibly been hurt the most by it even if the man did not show it to them.

Then again, with the way Steve saw Clint’s eyes narrow slightly, perhaps Thor hadn’t been hurt the most.

“Where did Tony and Bruce go? I haven’t seen them around.”

“Right here, oh Captain, my Captain.” Tony popped up from behind the bar, holding a drink he had been pouring. It was somewhat strange to see since Steve hadn’t seen him go near the bar all that much, really, since he had gotten there. He felt his muscles twitch slightly when the words “pup” hadn’t left Tony’s lips, but he could handle that. He could handle this. This was just Tony, his friend.

Tony took a long swig of his drink and gestured vaguely at the elevator. “Banner is downstairs in R&D somewhere. He’s got his nose stuck in a Petri dish over some sort of potential bacteria that can be used to clean up battle-worn metal without putting any real elbow grease into it.”

“You mean guns?” Natasha looked up in interest.

“No, I mean like Iron Man suits,” Tony grinned. “Get your own personal scientist.”

“Alright.” Clint sat up suddenly and walked over to his bow case. He pulled it out and with a quick jerk of his arm the bow swung out to full position. Steve was surprised when he walked over and set it on the bar in front of Tony. “Can you improve it?”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, I wasn’t offering.”

“So. You’re saying you can’t do better than SHIELD?” Clint asked calmly. Far too calmly, with a slight quirk to his lips that wasn’t quite a smirk but clearly on the verge of one.

Tony stared at him for a second then snapped the bow up off the bar to hold it between his hands and examine it. “I liked you better up on the rooftops, Legolas. You should have stayed there… where’s the rest of it? How am I supposed to fix this SHIELD disaster without all of the pieces?”

Steve noted that he was already sounding distracted and impatient as he ran his fingers over the bow, examining every inch of it. He barely spared Clint a second glance as the man set his glove and quiver in front of him. He simply grabbed them up and was into the elevator in an instant.

“Clint. You know you’re not getting that back until he’s pulled it apart piece by piece and resembled it, right?” Natasha shook her head, snapping her gun nearly back into its holster.

“You know I have the spare, and imagine what he could do to improve it.” Clint looked over at her and grinned. It was a charming boyish one. One that Steve hadn’t gotten the pleasure of witnessing before. He found that he liked it on his comrade.

“Captain Rogers! I recall that you share my enjoyment of a feast! Will you dine with me and join me in a warrior’s meditation?” Thor’s hand was patting his shoulder firmly, giving it an affectionate squeeze that in the back of Steve’s mind couldn’t help but remind him of Bruce and how he was always touching his shoulders. He could do this.

“Sure, Thor. Sounds good.”

Steve wasn’t sure where Thor’s ‘feast’ had come from. Perhaps he had brought it himself. They were on the roof now, though. The open air was slightly cooler and it felt nice to breathe it in. They seated themselves on the gravel floor across from one another with platters piled high with meats, breads and cheeses between them.

“Eat, my companion! It is good to share a meal with someone who appreciates it!” Thor let out a hearty laugh. “The hawk pecks like a bird and the spider, though watching her dine is arousing, is hardly any better.”

Steve stared at that, pausing as he reached for a piece of bread. “Arousing?” he felt himself ask, then quite immediately regretted it.

“Ah, yes. A true warrior woman often delights in her food with the same zest that I do! Natasha relishes her food in this manner, but in such small quantities! It is unheard of in my realm! Still, I find it enjoyable to watch.”

 

Steve suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about eating in front of Thor. Before he would have thought nothing of it, but now he had no idea if those on Asgard had the same relaxed ideas on sexuality that Tony and Bruce did. The last thing he wanted was to be “found arousing” by Thor while he ate.

Still, he couldn’t exactly voice this, and it would be far too rude to not eat now. So they ate together. The food was delicious and though he tried to reserve himself for propriety’s sake, he watched as Thor ate with the great delight he had spoken of earlier, and he couldn’t help copying that style, earning a hearty laugh of approval from the other man.

“This! This is what I desired. The breaking of bread between too warriors is a true act of friendship. I am honored to share this with you, Captain Rogers.”

“Thank you, Thor. I’m honored to share it with you, as well. You can call me Steve, you know?”

Thor’s perpetual smile widened at that. “Thank you, friend Steve!”

The platter’s contents slowly dwindled. Even with his increased appetite, Steve felt his belly bulge slightly at the sheer mass of food he had just consumed. Thor had eaten even more than he, but he didn’t seem to be suffering any sort of ill. He simply took the last piece of bread and chewed it slowly before giving the sort of contented sigh one gave after a satisfying meal. “This was a most excellent feast! Now, you will still join me for meditation, yes?”

Steve nodded. He was surprised that Thor would even be interested in such a thing, let alone asking for company in it.

Thor stood and walked to the edge of the rooftop in silence. He sat down with his legs crossed on the very ledge. Steve joined him on the ledge, glancing down at the rush of cars many stories below them. Thor didn’t seem troubled by them at all. He placed his hands onto his kneels and inhaled deeply.

“Let us contemplate our most cherished ones, Steve! Of our duties to them, and how we might best serve their needs as well as our own.”

The surprise must have been clear on his face because Thor glanced at him and smiled. “A warrior’s greatest honor is to fight for those he loves. Why else would we fight? Come. Contemplate with me.”

With that, Thor closed his eyes, his face’s expression smoothing out into one of tranquility. Steve watched as he sucked in slow, deep breaths through his nose, slowly releasing them from his slightly parted lips.

This was clearly important to Thor, and Steve felt privileged that the man wanted to include him. He mimicked Thor’s posture and breathing then closed his eyes, letting his breathing clear his mind.

His loved ones. That gave Steve pause. He did not have many of those, anymore. Almost everyone he knew was dead. Almost all of his “most cherished ones” were all here in this building, cleaning guns, fletching arrows, playing god and sitting beside him on a roof ledge, and one was thousands of miles away, hopefully getting a chance to relax for once. He tried to think of each of them individually along with the ideas that Thor told him to think on.

How could he better see to Clint’s needs as well as his own? He supposed he could be a moving target for him. It would better hone both of their skills. What were his duties to Natasha? To give her the space and respect she so clearly deserved, but to still try and see through her shell to any needs she might have for companionship. Thor? This here met his needs. He was honored that he was being included in such an intimate moment in his life. Pepper? He would try and keep Tony out of trouble for her like she was always asking. How might he better service Tony and Bruce? His mind traitorously filled in a few ideas on that one. What would he do when they were alone again? Tony said nothing changed between them, but distance can change things without anyone meaning for it to happen. He felt a slight ache in his heart at the idea that after this, things might not be the same.

No, Tony was many things, and one of those things was honest to the point of brutality. If he said nothing would change, then nothing would. He felt himself relax at that and think more clearly. How could he service Bruce? Obedience, letting himself be guided by his gentle hands. Tony? Making him work to put him on his knees. Steve understood now that the man clearly enjoyed the playful struggle between them as long as it was not something serious. He shifted slightly and opened his eyes, surprised to find Thor’s steady gaze on him.

“You look to be at peace, Steve. I hope this has been a balm to your heart as it has been mine.”

He nodded. “It was really good to think things out. It’s easy to forget to just sit back and do that, thank you.”

Thor nodded in return. “We are both men of action. In that, it is easy to forget that sometimes, to find peace, we must be still.” He suddenly looked slightly embarrassed. “This, it is a technique taught to me by my brother.”

“It must be hard for you…” his voice trailed off, because just what do you say to the man whose brother tried to end your world and who you would have killed in an instant if needed?

“Heavy is the burden I bear for my brother, Steve,” Thor spoke gravely. “My love for him is endless, his hatred for me, boundless. How can two such sides ever reconcile?”

This time it was Steve who reached out and gripped the hard muscle of Thor’s shoulder. “Perhaps with time and patience, my friend. I hope you reconcile with him.” And he meant it. Not just for the world’s sake, but for Thor’s.

Thor beamed at him and stood, embracing him in a tight hug. “You are a true warrior and a truer friend, Steve! Not many would look past Loki’s slights and wish me well with him!”

A rough pat on his back almost knocked him off the ledge, but he managed to steady himself. The meditation had calmed him, and it was clear that it had soothed Thor’s heart, as well. Both men headed off of the rooftop to spend time with the others.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Special warning just for this chapter guys. Brief mentioning of past hate crime against homosexuals (in the 1940's). It is non-graphic but I thought I should give a fair warning.

It had been almost a week since Stark Tower had become overrun with superheroes. Steve’s days were busy with trying to fulfill his meditations on Clint, Natasha and Thor. Thor made an overwhelming but fantastic sparring partner. Steve didn’t have to pull a single punch on him and Thor was kind enough not to mention that he was pulling his own for Steve’s sake. It was also surprisingly easy to talk to him. They were both fish out of water, here, and many things other people did came off to them as confusing. If one had a question, they would ask the other first, hoping for some insight the other might have gleaned. If neither knew the answer, they would discuss and contemplate it together in hopes of finding a solution without needing to ask another.

For Clint and Natasha, he became a walking target. Clint had eagerly accepted his idea for human target practice with padded arrows. Steve had of course meant to keep it in the gym, but when Clint whipped out his backup bow, he found himself booking it out of the room because the entire tower, with the exception of the more fragile R&D levels, had just become their gym. With some goading, Clint had gotten Natasha to join them, her guns obviously loaded with blanks. There were designated “safe zones” such as his bedroom and the kitchen, and a couple hours of truce were called a day so they could give each other tips and pointers, but he found himself creeping around each hall on the lookout for stay arrows and flashes of red hair. It became a thrilling game that took up most of his days. It was only the nights that were hard.

Very hard. He hadn’t seen either of them since they day the others arrived. He would still get calls from Pepper, now coming through to his room instead of Tony’s cell phone. Neither of them talked about the sudden difference in calling devices. Bruce and Tony had both shut themselves away in the R&D levels, and Steve couldn’t think of a good reason to go there without seeming suspicious. Clint already suspected Bruce and Tony. When they were mentioned at lunch one day, he got a little grin on his face and had nudged at Natasha suggestively. It was clear that they at least had their own ideas of what was going on in those rooms, and Steve didn’t want to be part of that contemplation. He would be strong. The strong captain they needed, not the puppy Tony and Bruce had tamed.

It was just those lonely nights that wore on him; the tossing and turning, restless nights where when he did dream it was of him being back between them, warm and held. The dreams made each morning a little harder to get up and face. They were right here in the same building as he was, but they felt so far away. He felt worse because he had the sneaking suspicion that they were keeping their distance for his sake, but he was a grown man. He could handle seeing them and not making a fool out of himself.

It was a Sunday morning; he had listened to the light drizzle of rain as it pattered against his window all throughout the night. When he’d decided that sleep was truly going to evade him completely he’d finally sat up.

“JARVIS, what time is it?”  
“It is 2pm in India, sir”

“And what time would that make it here?” Steve asked calmly, a little too used to JARVIS’s dry wit.

“Around 5am, sir. Shall I put the kettle on for you?”

It was a little disconcerting that JARVIS seemed to always know when he would prefer tea to coffee, but he pushed it aside and nodded absently. He stood and scratched his chest, padding quietly down the halls to the elevator. He glanced around absently to be sure he wasn’t about to be assaulted by arrows or blank bullets, but it seemed both assassins were tucked away sleeping, so the trip to the main kitchen was uneventful. Or at least it was until he got there and saw Bruce sitting at the table. His back was to Steve and he was bent over a thick leather-bound book. The lights were dimmed, but there was still just enough light for him to read by as he ran his finger absently over the rim of a steaming mug.

Steve swallowed heavily. Just seeing the man drew out all of the feelings he’d been carefully suppressing for the past week. He wordlessly walked over and wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist, pressing his chest to him in an almost crushing embrace.

“Bruce...” He couldn’t resist placing a shyer kiss to the man’s warm neck. Initiating kissing wasn’t something he did regularly even now, but he needed to express just how much he was missing the man and words were failing him.

Bruce startled slightly but was quick to recover. Steve felt his hand being drawn up from Bruce’s stomach and given a soothing kiss.  
“Puppy. How are you holding up?”

He shrugged slightly against him, not pulling back from the contact. There weren’t really adequate words to describe how he was holding up. So he stayed against Bruce, breathing in the man’s scent as he talked softly about how he’d been spending his days. Bruce listened and stroked over his fingertips soothingly.

“Sounds like you’ve found ways to pass the time. We’ve been mostly in the lab working on different things. I think Clint might have a heart attack if he saw that his bow is now in a thousand tiny pieces scattered along the lab.”

Steve smiled at that and considered telling Clint just to see the look on his face.

“Have you been… avoiding people?” Steve asked curiously.

Bruce finally closed his book and turned to face him with a slight shrug. “We didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, and to be honest Tony and I are quite happy to be spending time in the lab. With the exception of spending time with you and Pepper, it is how we’ve always spent our days. We do miss you though, puppy.”

Bruce pulled his glasses off and folded them, carefully setting them on the table before he pulled Steve in for a deep kiss. Steve responded enthusiastically, felt himself curling into Bruce’s arms immediately and letting out a soft, needy groan. It was over too quickly. Bruce trailed it with a more chaste kiss over his lips, then pulled back.

“I’m glad to see you miss us too, though, puppy. Should we try to make it out of the lab for our meals?”

He nodded breathlessly and watched as Bruce gathered up his book and glasses. “I’d like that.”

“Then we’ll try and see you at lunch.” And like that he was left in the kitchen alone, but feeling considerably more at ease than before.

Steve did see Bruce at lunch; he even cooked for the group. The others in the group were dubious of Bruce’s cooking skills as they’d been surviving mostly on take out during their visit, but as the smell of curry wafted through the floor they wondered no longer. Steve purposefully avoided looking at Bruce throughout his cooking and the meal itself, but he did try to help out however he could and to make idle small talk that he hoped wasn’t too obvious. It felt good to have him back to talk to again, even if he had to be careful.

Tony finally showed up near the end of the meal, waltzing in casually in a bathrobe, lounge pants and slippers, a mug of coffee being carried along with Clint’s bow, quiver, and glove all tucked casually under his arm like they were a newspaper.

“My bow!” Clint cried out, but it really sounded more like “mm bnff!” because he was currently working on a mouthful of rice.

Natasha shot him a mildly disgusted look before handing him a napkin.

“Easy there, caveman. Chewing helps.” He took a long drink from his mug and set the bow and other equipment on the kitchen table. “Lemme know how it rides for you.”

Clint grinned, mouth still full and gave the thumbs up gesture before taking off with the bow, his meal half eaten but completely forgotten. The plate was quickly grabbed up by Thor who added it to his own meal, a meal that took up several plates already.

“Tony Stark! You have finally made an appearance in your own dwelling! Many thanks to your hospitality in this trying time.”

“No problem. You’re the nicest guy to ever eat me out of house and home, big fella.” Tony patted his bicep and sat down at the table, across from Steve. He saw Tony’s eyes moving to meet his and he avoided him by quickly busying himself with his plate.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Stark.”  
“Why hello, Captain. You know I was just thinking of you.”

Steve may not have been looking but he could hear the smirk in his voice.

He hesitated, unsure if he should take this clear baiting. “Oh, were you?”

“Yeah, thanks, big guy.” He grinned at Bruce as he quietly set a plate down in front of him, then continued. “The cooling system on one of my machines broke down and I was thinking that I could hook you up to it and keep it chilled until I get the parts I need.”

“Ah! A fine jest, Tony Stark.” Thor raised his coffee mug and chuckled in acknowledgement.

Natasha just raised an eyebrow as she polished off her plate neatly. “How many booby traps did you implant in Clint’s bow and arrows?”

“Only six, or was it seven. Wait until you see number three. It’s a doozy.” Tony grinned and took a bite of food.

“I think I’ll go check on him before I find him plastered to a wall somewhere. Thank you, doctor, it was delicious.” She started to walk away then turned slightly to give Steve a sideways glance. “Don’t think that I’ll be too distracted with Clint to notice if you leave any of the designated safety zones.” With slight smirk, she left.

Thor laughed, “This is all quite amusing friends! Steve, you will join me for a long afternoon of training, yes?”

He glanced up at Bruce and Tony who were seated side by side, watching him thoughtfully. “Yeah, sure, Thor.”

“I’m afraid I’ll be missing fight club. I’ll be busy getting ready to out for the evening. I’m presenting a new plan for converting the entire city of New York onto a clean, free energy grid. You know. No big deal.”

“Tony, are you sure it’s a good idea to go out?” Bruce asked.

“SHIELD hasn’t given us a peep of information since we got bombarded last week. This whole thing is ridiculous. I’m supposed to wither away in these luxurious trappings for the rest of my life until they figure out what’s going on? Uh, no, thank you.”

“Just be careful, hmm?”

“Aren’t I always?” Tony grinned and stood, his plate barely touched, gulping down more coffee. “I’ve got to get ready to shine like the Stark I am!”

Bruce shook his head and Thor simply commandeered the man’s plate as he left. After lunch, Steve glanced back at Bruce and thanked him for the meal as the other man washed the plates.

“You’re very welcome, Captain.” He smiled and looked over as he wiped his fingers on a dry dishcloth. “Perhaps I’ll see you at dinner, as well.”

Steve smiled. “That would be a pleasure, doctor. Thank you.”

He walked out into the hall and congratulated himself on getting through lunch without letting anything slip. His inner celebration was cut short by the soft shick of an arrow whizzing towards his face. He tucked and rolled into a nearby room, hearing a muffled shout of dismay from Clint and a softer laugh that had to be Natasha.

It had taken a bit of doing, but he’d managed to give both assassins the slip and had a vigorous sparring session with Thor. He was dripping with sweat and practically limping by the time he told Thor he’d had enough. Thor was quick to make sure he hadn’t accidently injured him, but Steve waved him off and reassured him that he would be just fine after some rest. He walked down the hallway, scrubbing the sweat off his face with a towel.

Suddenly, the door beside him opened and he was grabbed by two strong hands and dragged into the room with an undignified yelp of shock. He dropped the towel and raised his hands into fists, his eyes not yet adjusted to the pitch black he’d been pulled into.

There was loud snickering in front of him. “Hey there, pup.”

“TONY?”

“Yeah, I missed you, too.” There was a click and a soft glow illuminated the…

“Tony, why are we in a linen closet?”

“Because we’d get stuck in the laundry chute. Now hush.”

There was barely any room in the small closet. As Steve’s eyes adjusted to the light he saw Tony raking his eyes up and down his body with an eager smirk. He was dressed up already, a fancy suit that probably cost an arm and a leg. It looked good on him; Steve couldn’t help looking him over and felt a slight stirring in his chest. It still felt weird to feel that sort of attraction to the male form, but he was getting used to it. They were quite a contrast. Tony clean and pressed, Steve sweaty and clad in his training gear.

“Looking good, pup. Fuck, I missed looking at this.” Tony’s hands reached to grab his hips tightly. Steve instantly arched into his possessive grip.

“Your suit—”

“It’s gone through worse. JARVIS is keeping an eye out in the hall.” His hands rucked up Steve’s shirt so the length of his torso was exposed, his nails dug into his pecs eagerly. “You missed me, didn’t you, pup?”

“Yes,” he whispered desperately as he bowed his back to encourage those nails to dig into him further. It had been so hard holding back all of the emotions he had been feeling, and seeing both of them today had him feeling even more stirred up inside. His hands flew up to clutch at Tony’s sleeves.

“That’s my boy. I’ve got about 15 minutes until the limo arrives. Let’s make them memorable.”

Steve found himself nodding quickly in agreement, then groaned when Tony pushed his body tightly against him. He could feel the buttons of Tony’s jacket push into his stomach as his cloth-covered erection was shoved against Steve’s own with a hungry growl. Steve moaned, and couldn’t resist humping back at him. The friction felt sinfully delicious. It wasn’t perfect; in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but realize how much better this would feel with only a thin layer of shorts separating their aching erections. They were so hot he’d have been able to feel Tony’s heat through them, whereas now he could only feel the firm press of fabric. Still, with the lapse of contact recently, it felt heavenly.

Tony’s hands roamed along his stomach, scratching and rubbing. Steve hissed suddenly when Tony’s thumb pressed firmly into an already purpling bruise Thor had left on his stomach. It was nothing serious, it would most likely be gone by morning with his superior healing, but it was tender now and Tony was watching his reaction as he pressed into it again.

“That L’Oreal god get you all scuffed up, pup?”

“Yeah-ah! Tony t-that—” he gasped as the other man ground his thumb into the ugly purple mark. It shot a wave of ache through him which, when coupled with the feeling of Tony grinding his hard on firmly against his own, was too confusing for words and it certainly shouldn’t have been working together with said sensation to heighten his arousal.

“Fuck. I love just how predictable you are, pup.” He ran his nail roughly over the mark then sought out others, cuts and bruises that looked like little more than shadows in the closet’s dim light that were all fair game to Tony’s questing fingers.

“Tony!” he yelped out the other man’s name when he slid down Steve’s torso and bit roughly into a scratched over patch of muscle on his stomach. Tony was quick to chase the bite with a flat, broad swipe of his tongue, which only served to make the warring sensations of pain and pleasure in Steve’s body meld into one.

He gasped as Tony nuzzled his stomach then grabbed the hem of his shirt, drawing it up further and shoving the end into Steve’s open mouth.

“You’re going to attract unwanted attention, pup. Handles two problems at once, don’t it? You want to safe-word out, then squeeze my shoulder, ok? With your grip, I’ll get the hint pretty damn fast.”

Steve bit down into the damp mass of cloth in his mouth and watched as Tony licked a line across his nipple, teasing it into hardness. The groan from Steve’s mouth was muffled now.

“See? Keeps your lovely chest nice and exposed for me and it gives you the muzzle a noisy pup like you needs.” With that, Tony bit sharply into Steve’s pert nipple, drawing a muffled keening noise from the back of his throat as he clenched his teeth around his shirt fabric.

There was a faint flash of white teeth as Tony grinned up at him. “Perfect.”

With that, Tony fairly attacked his chest and nipples with bites, licks, and scratches. He would tug one nipple then the other with a light twisting jerk between his thumb and forefinger. Steve groaned and whimpered at the absolute torture Tony was inflicting on his over-sensitized nubs. His hips jerked forward at each pull and bite until he was humping desperately into the empty air. He could feel his member leaking with need, dampening and straining at the front of the jock strap he’d chosen to wear for obvious reasons while sparring with Thor.

“God, just look at your little boy tits, pup. I wonder if I just played with them until I had to go if they would still be this swollen and sore by the time I got back.”

 

Steve flushed in mortification because Tony always managed to know just what to say to make him feel more embarrassed by his body and its reactions than anyone else had ever been able to. On top of that, the idea of Tony actually thinking about not letting him reach his peak from all of this torment had him letting out a soft whimper as he ground his teeth into his makeshift gag.

“Or,” Tony paused and reached his hand down to fondle Steve through his sweat pants which made Steve grunt and hump frantically at his hand. “You could finally let me get a lick of that super swell little soldier you’ve gotta be hiding down here.”

Steve let go of his shirt only to bite down into his lower lip uncertainly even as he was heavily panting. That was a tempting yellow right there. He kept setting up barriers, protections so that this didn’t go too far, and Tony took ever so much delight in poking and prodding at them until Steve found himself curious and eager enough to accept, then having to hastily construct new ones.

“Are those—” he had to pause and swallow heavily because Tony was still rubbing his palm against his crotch very firmly, “—my only two options?”

“Oh nah, nah. I could always flip you over and finally open you up. Lube’s in my pocket and—”

“NO!” Steve yanked back as far as he possibly could, wincing as his elbow banged into a shelf holding clean sheets.

“Hey! Hey, shhh…” He felt Tony’s arms wrap around him in comfort, which was strange because so often it was Bruce doing that. “It was a JOKE, pup. Bruce would probably hulk out if I actually went at you without him getting to watch.”

“Tony! I don’t EVER want that! Can’t you get that?” He yanked against his arms a bit, but in their close confines there really wasn’t anywhere else to PUT Tony’s arms once he’d wrapped them around him. He couldn’t EVER go that far, and it was mortifying whenever Tony brought it up. That was too much, too depraved, too dirty, a biblical sin. Being distanced from the two of them had given his brain time to rebuild some of the barriers it once had, and his mind now went unbidden back to his time, when he was still just a kid in Brooklyn and any sort of limp-wristed displays or thoughts got you ground to a pulp, even worse than he’d already been getting.

He saw it once; it was horrific, the guy almost had to be peeled off the filthy alleyway concrete by the police by the time they arrived. They begrudgingly made sure he was alive, then gave him a shove and told him to get the hell out of their city because he was the vile one, the one who brought it on himself. Here, he was doing the same and justifying it. Thinking that as long as he didn’t go THAT far he’d be ok, he wouldn’t be that. That is was the serum, or something else, not him.

“Christ, Steve, you’re really that spooked, aren’t you?” Tony murmured against his ear, his hands rubbing firmly at his back. “Fuck, I hate that we left you alone all this time. Got you all worked up.”

It was a jolt back to reality to actually hear Tony using his name. He shook his head and tried again to disengage his arms, tug down his own shirt, anything to collect himself, to ignore that he was still straining against his pants.

“I can’t, Tony. I just CAN’T.” He let out a noise of frustration because now that the mood was gone he was beginning to feel closed in by the tight confines of the closet.

 

“Alright, Steve. Alright.” Tony finally pulled his arms back, but didn’t pull back completely. “Fuck, that really killed the mood, didn’t it, pup?”

Steve just nodded in silence.

“Look. This isn’t over, pup, ok? I just picked a shitty time to make a joke and apparently went dragging something up in you that needed going over with me, you and the big guy.” Tony ran a warm hand across Steve’s cheek and Steve was surprised he could see some guilt lining the other man’s eyes. “We’re going to talk about this, Steve. Soon as I get back. Avenger sleepover be damned.”

“Tony I’m f—”

“Fine? Fine doesn’t freak out like that over the idea of some anal, and Christ your eyes just got impossibly big just by me saying that word. Maybe I should cancel this little shindig.”

“No! No, don’t do that.” Steve just felt ashamed now. There was no way he was going to let a conference on clean energy be cancelled because Tony was bad at the idea of limits.

“Fine. We’re talking, though, and don’t you try hiding out, because I’ll just have JARVIS tell me where you skipped off to.”

Tony grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down for a rough kiss. It was quick and hungry and too fast for Steve to even really respond to, which may have been what Tony wanted. Then he was pulling back, straightening his tie. “Until tomorrow, pup.”

And there was Tony’s patent-pending leer as he looked over Steve’s body and calmly strode out of the closet, while Steve considered spending the rest of his life in it.

He collected himself slowly before he left the closet, and went right to his room for a shower and to put himself to bed without supper. He tried so hard to ignore the thrumming pleasure his body was still trying to hold onto as the water washed over him. He couldn’t bring himself to take care of it and he wasn’t about to risk going to the kitchen for ice. He twisted the knob to cold and that helped a bit, but not quite all of the way.

While he was scrubbing himself dry, the towel rubbed abrasively over some of the cuts and bruises Tony had toyed with. He felt himself growing heated again and threw the towel into the hamper in a hurry. He tugged on his pajama pants and slid under his covers, deciding an early night was for the best. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the light throbbing still emanating from his tender nipples that shot little pinpricks of pleasure down to his member. It took some persistent denial, but eventually he was able to drift off into a slightly fitful sleep, worrying about the talk Tony wanted to have the next day.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a shorter chapter, sorry! It's what worked best with the breaks in writing though.

Steve woke up the next morning feeling terrible. His eyes simultaneously feeling sticky and crusty, his limbs twisted up in his sheets so tightly that he almost lost his temper and simply rendered them in two instead of carefully unwinding himself. He didn’t want to face the day, but he knew Tony meant what he said about simply having JARVIS give up his position. But this was a private talk Tony wanted. So he’d just make himself as un-private as possible. It’d be hard to have a quiet, intimate conversation in front of a group of superheroes devouring eggs and bacon. In fact, he was fairly certain it would be impossible to have a quiet conversation anywhere near Thor. A quick splash of water to his face and he managed to put on his calm, professional, captain face and made his way to the others.

He wasn’t disappointed, most of them were there. Bruce was missing, but that wasn’t too surprising, Tony was sure to be either still out celebrating the ‘after party’ of his conference or sleeping it off, but Thor was devouring a mountain of eggs, Natasha nibbling a piece of bacon… Clint was cleaning some sort of purple glowing substance out of his hair where it seemed to be clinging with great persistency. Steve sat down on a stool beside him and quirked an eyebrow.

“Don’t ask.” Clint groused.  
“It was number three, we think,” Natasha calmly stated as she sipped some coffee.

“I witnessed the event! It was quite a fine jest!” Thor grinned as he sandwiched some bacon between two poptarts.

“Still completely worth it; it flies like a dream.”

Even Steve had to smile at that one and wonder what else Tony had done to mess with Clint’s weaponry. Then his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he had skipped supper, so he tucked into his own breakfast with gusto, then glanced over to see Thor watching him a bit and made himself slow down.

“I thought perhaps today the four of us could go over some team building and training exercises together. Figure out more how to play into each other’s strengths, not just our own.”

“Just us four?” Natasha looked at him curiously; she really was too astute for anyone’s own good.

“Well, I don’t think Dr. Banner would have much of an interest in letting out the Hulk out for some simple training exercises.”

“And even if he did, what would we even do with that?” Clint asked. “Hulk. Smash. There’s not much we need to do to build on that strength.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed. “And I don’t think Mr. Stark would be very interested in something involving working as a team.”

“Now, Captain Rogers, that is just plain hurtful, I would love to work as a team so that we can all come to an understanding of just how amazing I truly am.”

“The saddest part is that he’s actually being completely serious right now,” Natasha stated calmly.

They all looked over to see Tony in a rather rumpled looking suit, his tie now slung over his shoulder haphazardly as he shoved a mug under the coffee maker to catch the drip of fresh steaming brew.

“Of course I am, Agent Romanoff.”

Steve couldn’t help but notice that Tony never dared to stick a pet name onto Natasha. It exposed that his true intelligence lay not only in machinery design.

“Anyway, it’d be rude to leave Bruce out. Even if he’s not in total control when he’s all tricked out, it doesn’t mean part of him isn’t still there.”

Steve stared at Tony incredulously at that and noticed he wasn’t the only one.

“What? You guys really think Hulk decided to catch me out of the goodness of his heart? Nothing you can say will convince me that that wasn’t Bruce. He’s in there. He might not be holding the reigns but he’s in there, influencing however much he can, like a whisper of consciousness in a raging bull’s ear.”

He shrugged slightly and took a long drink from his mug. “Granted not totally effective, but leading. So how about we not pretend it’s smart to keep him out of the kum-ba-yah-yahs then, hmm? Ok? Great! I’ll go fetch him. Oh and Clint, you look like a troll doll.” He drained the rest of his coffee in one quick gulp that had to be practiced or Steve figured he’d have burned his tongue off by now, then set the mug down into the sink with a clink and headed off to the labs.

“Off to fetch his science boyfriend,” Clint snickered slightly and finally gave up on his hair, tossing aside a deeply purple-stained dish towel.

Steve startled at that. “What?”

“It’s fairly obvious they entered a relationship.” Natasha shrugged and picked up the towel again, dipping it into her coffee and sliding her nimble fingers into Clint’s hair to tug him closer and scrub the wetted towel against a section of his hair.

“Quite! I heard sounds of their consummation as I passed the lab just yesterday!” Thor seemed to find the idea quite amusing. “I listened for some time. They clearly are well equipped to meet one another’s needs!”

“Oh. Wow, Thor. I didn’t need to, OW! Tasha, that’s my scalp you’re taking off!”

“Quiet.” She continued to brush briskly over his hair. “See? It’s finally coming off. Times are different now, Captain. Men are with men sometimes. Not sure if you got debriefed on that.”

Steve swallowed nervously and nodded, trying to seem at least a little surprised.

“Tony just likes sex, near as I can tell it. I thought him and Miss Potts has entered a relationship, but I haven’t seen her around.” Natasha shrugged. “Bruce, though, this is the first information SHIELD has of him having any sort of serious relationship since his accident.” Her voice shifted to a slightly softer tone. “So Tony had better not hurt him.”

“Do not fear, Lady Romanoff! From the sounds I heard, I do not feel that Bruce was being injured in an—”

“I meant his heart, Thor,” she cut him off, though her lips pursed slightly and it was clear she was trying not to laugh at that.

“So everyone’s really ok with that?” Steve couldn’t help but ask. “Two of the faces of the Avengers… fraternizing and well, uhm...”

“Queer as folk?” Clint grinned at him sideways from his position.

Steve didn’t understand the reference but nodded.

“Who cares? What are they going to do about it? Tell the Hulk and Tony Stark to not do something? Yeah, I’m not sure which reaction would be funnier,” he laughed then winced at Natasha scoured behind his ear roughly.

Steve felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. They knew about Tony and Bruce, and they clearly didn’t care. He felt the tightness in his chest loosen just slightly. Things weren’t ok, but having teammates like these made things better, bearable.

Steve heard the elevator and turned towards it to give Bruce and Tony a smile.

But Bruce wasn’t there. It was only Tony, his eyes wide and with a look of fear that was so far from anything that Steve had ever seen on the man that he stood up instantly to face him.

“Bruce is gone.”


	15. Chapter 15

“You’re not listening, Fury! He wouldn’t just disappear like that!” Tony was shouting at Fury’s image on the screen.

“And I’m telling YOU that this isn’t the first time Dr. Banner has disappeared. We’re working on it from our end.”

“JARVIS said Bruce got a message from ME on his phone last night, and left to meet me for coffee. Now, I was drunk as a Lord last night, but I damn well didn’t send him any message.”

Steve saw Fury pause at that and look concerned, but it was barely registered on Steve’s senses. How could this be happening? Bruce was supposed to be the safest one among them; no one could touch him. Now he was gone without a trace. He’d watched the video feed with the rest of the group. Bruce was there in crystal clarity. They watched him working quietly in his lab, the phone ringing, then the quiet smile that graced his lips as he made short work of cleaning his work station and slipped on a jacket before heading out of the building.

They had almost nothing to go on even though it had been hours since the discovery. Clint and Natasha were out grilling every barista within walking distance of the towers. Tony and Fury were having a shouting match over whose fault this was and what should be done next. Thor was out flying through the city searching, for once optimistically, for a flash of green and the sound of screaming. Steve was, well, here. He’d gotten them together, sent them out, and now he didn’t know what to do. He was supposed to be the leader and he felt completely worthless. Too much time spent being a foolish, docile, puppy, he told himself bitterly.

He heard a crash of glass and looked up in time to see Tony’s coffee mug flying through one of the video screens.

“I hate when that guy won’t shut up.”

“I’m sure you could have just hung up,” Steve spoke softly and he knew it was perfectly clear his heart wasn’t in it.

“Well yeah, but that leaves a better impression.” Tony raked his hands through his hair and sighed. He was still dressed in his suit which was looking wrecked by now from partying and then searching. “We’re going to find him, pup. Whatever happened… If someone got him, what are they going to do, kill him?”

“Can they?”

“I… No. They can’t.”

 

But Steve could hear the falter in Tony’s voice and knew he was saying it just as much to reassure himself as he was him. It made Steve’s shoulders tighten even more in trepidation.

“Should we call Miss Potts?”

“It’s Pepper, for fuck’s sake, Steve, and no, not until we know something. We’ll find him first.”

“Yeah. We’ll find him, Tony. You just need to keep thinking. This isn’t something superpowers are going to fix. We need your brain to figure out what the next move is.”

Tony glanced over, gave Steve a small rueful smile, then nodded.

“That’s your orders, Captain? It’s a bit vague and mysterious. I’m going to need a lot more coffee and tactical mastermind working with me.”

“Coming right up.”

They brainstormed together for hours on ways they could locate Bruce until it was well into the night. Ideas were scribbled onto paper by Steve or relayed to JARVIS by Tony so they were displayed on a non-wrecked monitor beside the couch where they worked. No cell phone tracking, the doctor had a bad habit of leaving it behind and last night was no exception. Tony suggested blowing up New York and then digging through the rubble for the green guy but Steve quietly pointed out that they were, in fact, still good guys. Steve thought that they could perhaps track Bruce via gamma radiation, but Tony shot that down with the thought that if Bruce was missing this long it wasn’t of his own doing, and whoever had done this would know enough about Bruce to know to contain the rays so they couldn’t be traced. A quick attempt to be sure confirmed the theory.

“But how would they know that, Tony?” Steve asked, looking up from a screen displaying a map of the city.

Tony blinked owlishly at him, lack of sleep and 7 cups of black coffee had made his pupils become dilated, and there were clear black circles around his eyes, but suddenly he was grinning and Steve had never been so happy to see that huge smug grin on Tony’s face before. 

“Well, Precious Moments, they’d have had to have smashed open SHIELD’S big old piñata of secrets about us.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully at that. “It’s too big of a coincidence for the two incidents not to be connected, but how does that help?”

“Because that’s our lead, Steve! We’re going to figure out how they got into SHIELD’S defenses, and then we’re going to backtrack it until we figure out who did it. Then I’m going to fly you there and you’re going to thrash them like a good little attack puppy.”

“But if we could backtrack them, wouldn’t we have done it already?” Steve asked in confusion. “We’re all here because SHIELD couldn’t figure out the breech. If you could do it, why didn’t you?”

Tony’s face suddenly fell a bit and he looked down into his coffee cup before his shoulders shrugged just slightly. “Kinda just liked having the team together under one roof, so I didn’t bother.”

“You never even saw them!” Now he was just staring in disbelief.

 

“Yeah, but I knew they were here.” He shrugged again before standing and Steve was about to shout at him that all of this might have been avoided if Tony had just done something different, but he looked up into the other man’s face and the words never left his lips, because Tony knew that. He could see it in the man’s eyes, in his face, the twist of his lips. Guilt was consuming him and it would be useless and cruel for Steve to tell him what he already knew.

“How can I help?”

“More coffee.”

Dawn was cracking by the time the others had come back with no news. Tony had finally ditched the shirt and tie, rushing around to work on different computer screens with JARVIS clad only in his slacks, belt and undershirt. Their efforts had proven futile; no coffee shop had seen anyone fitting Bruce’s description, and Thor had surveyed the entire city from the air without anything to show for it except a few angry pigeons.

Clint plucked a little at his bow string, a sure sign of nerves for him. “Uhm, is he ok? He looks like a bear shit him out.”

Tony didn’t bother to take his attention from the screen. “I can hear you and I’m dandy, but keep talking like that and while I'm in here I’m going to make your files say that you spent three years in a polygamous relationship with two monkeys and a clown during your circus years.”

“Uh…” Even Clint looked confused by that one.

“He’s hacking SHIELD’S files right now with JARVIS, so he could do it,” Steve explained, looking over Tony's shoulder as a second pair of eyes. He didn't understand most of what he was seeing, but he was able to detect patterns quickly and would point out anything that didn't seem to fit into a pattern to Tony who would examine it further.

Natasha looked up sharply from the notes she’d been peeking at that were still skewed across the table from the earlier session. “Tony, I know you’re upset but—”

“No, it’s ok Natasha,” Steve tried to reassure her. “He’s looking for who broke in before. I don’t really understand it, but he thinks it’ll help. That maybe we can find who did it with the computer thing and...” he trailed off because that was about as far as he understood computers, but Natasha was nodding so he was glad that he had gotten the idea across.

“It’s a good idea, just don’t go poking around my files. Have you found anything so far?”

“Well aside from that fact that you’re a natural redhead so the curtains probably do match the drapes, I’m locking in on the Trojan that was used to tunnel into the system.”

“And?” Natasha clearly chose to ignore the first comment.

“And whoever did this is either as smart as me, impossible, or has a team of professionals working for them.”

“Can you figure it out?”

“JARVIS is pulling apart the program bit by bit.”

 

“I must say, sir, it is a work of art.”

 

“Don’t get flirty with it JARVIS, you’ll get an STD.”

 

“Noted, sir.”

They all lapsed into a watchful silence as Tony worked; even Thor sat quietly on the carpeted floor, in a position that Steve now knew was one used for his meditation. Now, though, his eyes weren’t closed, he instead watched Tony with an intense gaze, as though trying to will the man his own strength so he might carry on.

A full 36 hours had passed from Bruce’s disappearance, and JARVIS finally gave them the news they were all desperately waiting for.

“Sir? I believe there is an encrypted signature on the program that I have been able to unravel.”

Despite the situation, Clint looked amused. “What kind of megalomaniac would put their own name onto a Trojan program, I mean, besides Tony, obviously.”

But Tony wasn’t listening, he was staring at the screen closest to him, his lips pressed tightly together to form a thin line. Steve quickly rose from his seat to stand behind him and look over his shoulder.

“Tony, what’s Hammer Industries?”


	16. Chapter 16

Steve was quickly filled in on exactly what Hammer Industries was, and the man behind it, Justin Hammer. Thor was incredibly offended by the man’s last name. Natasha was already making calls, finding out if Hammer was still behind bars. It turned out that no, money goes a long way when it comes to petty little “white collar crimes” like trying to blow up Tony Stark. There was only the question of what he wanted with Bruce. 

“What’s not to want?” Tony practically snarled. “He’s MINE, of course that hack wants him.”

“He could also be trying to weaponize him,” Natasha said gently. “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to make a weapon out of something he can’t control.”

“What is your human obsession with trying to control powers you cannot begin to handle?” Thor questioned loudly. It didn’t get him any happy looks.

Steve shook his head. “That’s not what we need to focus on right now. What we need to know is where Mr. Hammer is and where he is keeping Dr. Banner. Stark, Natasha, you’ve dealt with him before, what’s the best move here?”

“His laboratories and security were very high class last time. He’d need something like that to be able to do any sort of testing on Bruce, which I would assume is his aim.”

“He’s also more of an egotistical monster than I am which means he’s going to want to be close to his little pet project to keep tabs on it so no one else gets any credit.” Tony was jabbing his fingers at the screen furiously. 

He’s got money, but he’s not a secret government agency which means he’s not invisible.”

“Well, according to his Twitter, he’s in North Dakota right now.” Clint looked up from his phone. Everyone stared at him.

Clint shrugged at them. “What? You said he’s an egotistical maniac. Of course he’s going to have a Twitter.”

“JARVIS, have the jet prepped.”

“Already done, sir. You depart in 5 minutes.”

Two hours spent on the private jet did nothing to calm nerves, but at least they’d had a chance to work out some sort of a plan. It was probably fortunate that Hammer was such a distance away, because it meant that, for starters, that was over two hours less that he’d had to poke and prod at Bruce, and secondly it prevented Tony from donning his suit and rocketing off without a plan. As it was, they’d barely convinced him to take the time to clean up and re-dress inside the jet. Unfortunately, he’d managed to dip into his wet bar and had decided he was done with coffee for the day. No one had really had the heart to take the bottle from him, yet.

In quiet worry, Steve watched him tilt the bottle to his lips. He could understand the desire because he personally was a wreck inside. He was in his suit now, though, which meant it was time to be the Captain, time to step up and be the leader. He couldn’t let anything interfere or jeopardize Bruce, not even Tony’s guilt.

“Stark, that’s enough. It’s not going to help get him back, it’s just going to make it worse.” He reached out and took the bottle which got him a halfhearted glare.

“Should just put you over my knee for that.” Tony looked at him a bit darkly and Steve had to resist shrinking back a bit. That was a face he only saw when it was just the three of them, and it made him unbelievably worried that Tony was too drunk to be discrete. His face smoothed out, though, and he just ended up grinning slightly at him. “Or swat yah on the nose with the New Yorker.”

Steve sighed. “We’ll get him back, Tony.” He relaxed, then reached out and gave Tony’s shoulder a pat, a friendly, team player pat.

Tony’s hand grasped over his, briefly squeezing before letting go.

“Yeah. We will.”

They touched down in Bismarck. Natasha worked with SHIELD the entire time over the phone to determine where it would be best to start looking. It turned out to not be entirely necessary. Hammer Industries didn’t really know how to be discrete. By the time they were leaving the private jet, Natasha already had three promising, isolated, locations where large packages and different expensive equipment had been delivered to recently. That meant splitting up to cover more ground. It was quickly decided that Thor was definitely not to be sent to any of the locations alone, so after some argument and debate it was decided that Thor and Natasha would go to one location, mostly since Clint and Thor seemed like a natural disaster waiting to happen. Clint would go to stake out another location from a distance and report on anything he saw there, and Tony and Steve would check out the final location. When this was questioned, Tony pointed out that Steve would be out of his element alone almost as much as Thor, which no one disagreed with. Steve wasn’t quite sure he felt good about that.

Tony was in a fresh suit this time, looking more cleaned and pressed than he had since the start of their mishap. He clutched a briefcase and calmly donned his sunglasses which covered up his bloodshot eyes as he strode into the building. Steve wished he had one tenth of the man’s confidence at times like these. Tony had his own armor that had nothing to do with metal or technology, and he wore it without flaw now as he walked up to a receptionist’s desk and flashed the man there an award winning smile.  
“Good morning, honey, I have an appointment with Mr. Hammer.” There was a wink there that was almost lost completely under the glasses, save for a slight lowering of an eyebrow.

“No, you don’t, and neither does Captain America over there.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have worn the suit.

“No need to be so snide, Sparky. C’mon, let me guess. Graduate student interning and turned into free personal assistant? I think we can do better than that, can’t we?”

Steve watched as the man narrowed his eyes at Tony. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“Paid internship, Stark Industries, with the option to hire when you’re done school.”

“Third level basement, he’s in a meeting.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, sliding it across the desk.

Tony snapped it up and grinned, tucking it into his pocket. “I’ll have my people call your people. Well no wait, you probably don’t have people. I’ll just have them call you.”

Steve would never understand the future. He simply followed as Tony walked towards a nearby elevator, then veered the other man off towards the stairs instead, pointing out emergency steps would probably be less trafficked.

“Good thinking, Captain.” Tony winked and walked through the doors with him. They started to race down the stairs.

“Let me take the lead here, Tony, you don’t have your suit on.”

“Oh I’ve got my business suit on, Pup. That’s just as dangerous.”

“Don’t call me that, here!” Steve hissed out in annoyance then nearly jumped into the air when he felt Tony’s hand crack down onto his butt with a sharp whacking noise. He turned and glared in disbelief that Tony would have the audacity to of all things SPANK him while they were on a mission and proceeded to give him a light shove. He wasn’t going to let this dissolve into a childish scuffle.

Tony just scoffed slightly and somehow managed to work his way to the door of the third level entrance before him. “You’re always our pup, Steve. Missions don’t change that. You being in charge doesn’t change that. Ours. Oh, and don’t forget which of us actually knows anything about business.” 

Steve stared incredulously as Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and stuck it to his ear, striding out of the stairway with practiced ease.

Then right into a pair of men holding very large guns.


	17. Chapter 17

Steve felt like he was in a bad movie, one of the ones Clint had forced on him to “catch him up with the times.” They were being guided down a long military grey-looking hall broken up only by the occasional grey non-windowed metal door. Tony took to being paraded around by gunpoint very well, suspiciously well, in fact. Steve couldn’t really say he himself was unused to it, but that didn’t really make it any more pleasant. All of Tony’s smooth talking in the world hadn’t persuaded the guards that they should just let them go find Justin Hammer on their lonesome. So here they were, being herded along and, doggone it, if Tony could look a little more concerned about it then Steve would know just how concerned he should be about it, too. Neither of them were bullet proof, but Steve was a lot more adept at handling those bullets. He kept trying to casually slide himself between Tony and the gunmen, but Tony always seemed to move at just the right angle to prevent it from happening.

“I am telling you guys, you would make a great act. I’m thinking something classy, elegant, a cabaret duo maybe. Which one of you is a soprano? We can make this work.” Tony didn’t even blink when he got nudged sharply in the back with the snout of the gun; Steve’s heart sure skipped a beat, though.

“No? Ok, clearly not a fan of show tunes. What about—”

“Tony, for goodness sake, STOP it.” Steve gritted his teeth. If Tony got himself shot because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut for 4 minutes, well really, it wouldn’t be that surprising, but it would be pretty unbearable. Remarkably, Tony actually listened, if humming a catchy tune that Steve didn’t recognize counted as listening, but with Tony you had to take what you could get. The men finally stopped them at a large set of grey double doors, no windows of course. Steve watched as Tony casually pushed them opened and wandered in as if he had meant to come there, thank you very much, and most certainly wasn’t being forced because forced was something that Tony Stark just didn’t do.

There were men there, lots of them, in a huge grey room. It was a lab, near as what he could tell, or at least it looked like a place Tony and Bruce would be happy to spend a lot of time in doing science type things. The ceiling was high, so high that if the room weren’t filled with people Steve was sure it would echo. There was a man Steve recognized from the video image Tony had brought up for them all; Justin Hammer. He looked slick and clean standing among a group of men in matching dark suits. It was way too much like those cheesy movies and it would almost have made Steven laugh except that then he saw what was going on in the middle of the room and he bit his tongue.

It was the Helicarrier all over again. There was a smooth, round oval of clear material suspended in the middle of the room. It looked like Hammer Industries had taken advantage of all of the information they’d stolen from SHIELD, because this cage was bigger and somehow it looked even more secure than the one he’d seen before. Bruce was sitting in the middle of it. No Hulk, just Bruce sitting on the floor in the middle of the cage, which was surprising because Steve didn’t know how Bruce had managed not to fly into a fit of rage over what was happening. It was hard to see because he was so far away, but there was bruising mottling the man’s exposed arms and chest, and Steve was pretty sure he could see red splotches along him signifying cuts or abrasions. On a nearby table outside the glass cage he could see a roughed up purple shirt and a pair of glasses, Bruce’s. They hadn’t even let him have the dignity of allowing him to wear them. Steve looked over to Tony and saw how tightly his jaw was set, like he was clenching his teeth so hard he was about to snap off a molar.

“Ah, Mr. Stark!” Hammer glanced over towards them, pausing to give one of the men nearby a friendly pat on the arm. “I was wondering when you would arrive!”

Bruce looked up at that, and Steve could see him squinting slightly until he spotted them both, but beyond that he couldn’t make out any other emotion on the man’s face.

“Perfect timing, really, I was just telling my dear friends here that they could get a personal demonstration.”

 

“Demonstration of what, exactly?” Steve couldn’t help himself from asking warily.

“Oh, this beast here is quite uncooperative. SHIELD’s reports on him were grossly inaccurate on how easy it would be to get him to show himself.” He paused to calmly push his glasses up a bit to emphasize just how tedious this was for him.

“Just what have you been doing to him?” Tony’s voice sounded dangerously calm as his grip on his suitcase handle tightened so hard his knuckles turned white.

“Why, provoking him of course,” Hammer chuckled as though this was funny. “How is it that the world’s most powerful weapons always fall into YOUR hands, Mr. Stark? You, who keep them so selfishly to yourself, you, the last person in the world who deserves the fame and fortune they would bring you.”

“I don’t like when people take my stuff,” Tony stated calmly.

“And I don’t like being sent to prison for trying to protect my country, Mr. Stark!” Hammer shouted, his cool demeanor gone. “It should have been you in that cell, and not me! I just wanted to create weaponry for our soldiers!”

“So you could sell them for top dollar.”

“Everything has a price, Mr. Stark, and now weaponry and metal suits are too old hat for my taste.” He spun his arms out in a grandiose gesture towards Bruce. “This is the future.”

Bruce stood carefully; Steve could see the wince on his face and the shake in his legs as he leaned against the glass barrier and trailed his fingers down it. Tony stared at him.

“How is this the future?” Steve honestly couldn’t believe how calm Tony sounded as he spoke.

“The perfect bomb. Not biological, not one little boom. Just drop a soldier over wherever you want, and let them go wild. Hell, you probably wouldn’t even have to give them a parachute. We just need to figure out the right concoction of this beast’s blood, and the right conditions to get the reactions we want out of him, and BAM!” Hammer clapped his hands together sharply for emphasis. “We were having a bit of trouble with the trigger, though. I’m fairly sure putting a bullet through your head would work out well, though, oh, and it might trigger the beast, too.” Hammer smiled at them sickeningly and the gun that was pressing into Tony’s back was lifted to his head.

There was a thunderous snarl from inside of the cage. The effect was so fast that Steve barely saw Bruce before he was replaced by the Hulk. His fists gave one furious pound onto the glass and the entire cage shook ominously. It was only an instant of distraction, but that instant was all they needed. Tony slammed his briefcase up into the gun pressed against his head while Steve swung his gloved fist into the jaw of the other guard. There was shouting and Steve could hear and see dozens of other guns being un-holstered by surrounding personnel.

But none of that mattered when the glass broke.

There was screaming, lots of screaming, and suddenly Tony Stark and Captain America were the last people in the world being thought about in that room. Steve watched in horrified awe as the Hulk leapt out of the shattered cage, landing so hard on the floor that it crumpled beneath his toes like paper. Tony was the only one in the room who didn’t look like he was about to wet his pants, but even he wasn’t looking too calm. Hulk had helped them last time, but there was no knowing if that was a one-time deal or not, brought on by the fact that Bruce had willingly let him out. So Steve didn’t miss the way Tony swallowed nervously. Steve started to walk towards Hulk as he was smashing wildly into the various pieces of machinery in the room, ignoring any and all bullets being sent his way in a barrage. Tony was quick to latch onto his shoulders and pull him back with a quick yank.  
“Don’t even think about it, pup, that’s about the dumbest thing we could be doing right now.”

“People are going to get hurt, Tony!”

“Let them,” Tony ground out in a harsh tone. “They brought this on them-fucking-selves. They got exactly what they wanted.”

“Tony—”

“No.” He felt Tony’s fingers digging into his shoulders and the other man rose up onto his toes to reach his ear. “This is an order, pup. Don’t interfere. I’m not letting you fucking get hurt for them.” The tone was so cold and serious that Steve froze. He couldn’t believe that he was hearing what he was, or that his body was obeying it.

He felt completely betrayed by both it and Tony, and could only watch, seething with anger at Tony, as the Hulk ripped up the huge pieces of metal flooring and threw them around the room. The room was clearing out; once guns were emptied ineffectively, people had started to flee the room screaming. He couldn’t see Justin Hammer anymore, and he suspected he had been the first one to leave.

To the Hulk’s benefit, Steve couldn’t see a single body in the room. Granted, there was so much debris that there could be some hiding under it, but Steve could hope for Bruce’s sake that that wasn’t the case. Hulk was still throwing stuff around when Tony cleared his throat and calmly set down his briefcase.

 

“Hey there, big fella! Nice of you to join the party, hell, you are the party!” Tony called out and raised his arms up towards the Hulk welcomingly. Steve cringed when the Hulk snapped his head over towards them and focused on Tony. He dropped the desk he was currently shaking and lumbered over to them. Steve felt the floor shaking beneath his feet and he really hoped they weren’t going to be involved in a cave in.

Tony didn’t even flinch when the Hulk lowered his head down into his face and growled.

“I missed you, too, big guy.” Steve startled as Tony accompanied the words with a friendly pat on the cheek, like this was perfectly normal and he wasn’t about to get his head torn off by a giant green rage monster.

“Having fun, ain’t yah? I bet you don’t wanna let Bruce out just yet, hmm?”  
Tony’s words were acknowledged only with a grunt and a slight punch into the floor, slight meaning the giant green fist only sank a couple of inches into the metal instead of going right through it.

“Yeah, can’t blame you there, this place has a lot of fun stuff to wreck up. Hey, how about we go outside, though, and smash it up from the outside in? I’d rather not get creamed in here, but I wanna watch this because I’m sure it’s going to be a thing of beauty.”

Steve wasn’t sure when exactly Tony became a professional Hulk tamer, and was too angry to ask, but he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Tony was flashed a huge toothy grin, then received a pat on the head that practically knocked the man over.  
“Whoa there, fella.”

There was a derisive snort from the Hulk and he lumbered past Tony, which unfortunately put Steve right in his line of vision. He felt himself peering up uncertainly. Hulk had followed his orders, well order, before, but he hardly thought telling him to smash things and the Hulk proceeding to do so really counted as obeying as much as it just meant the Hulk really liked to smash things. Green eyes were staring down at him and he could feel hot breath snorting out so strongly that it pushed back the hair that had fallen forward slightly onto his forehead.

Steve felt a huge green finger pressing against his chest and he stilled, holding his breath, even. It poked against his chest once or twice and he flicked his eyes over to Tony who had the audacity to simply shrug.

Hulk spoke out a single word in a low gravelly voice.  
“Puppy.”  
Steve wanted to hit Tony for laughing.

“Yeah, big guy, that’s our puppy. We’ll have fun with him later. Now let’s go smashy, hmm?”

The finger ran down his chest to his stomach, a surprisingly careful touch, before it was withdrawn and the Hulk lumbered past them, not bothering with a door, simply making his own with a thrust of his fist. Tony was still laughing to himself as he grabbed his case back up and chased after him. They made their way after him as best as they could, eventually having to switch to stairs as the Hulk had instead leaped up from one floor to another. They were all out of the building soon, as was anyone else. In fact, there was no sign of anyone at all when they stepped out of the huge building, if nothing else could be said for Justin Hammer, his evacuation plans were certainly solid. This was good, because the Hulk was quite merrily tearing down load-bearing walls and throwing them into the air only to leap up and pound his fists through them so that they shattered.

“Aw, isn’t that nice, Steve? It’s like fireworks.”

Steve didn’t answer because after the little stunt Tony pulled earlier, he was in no way on speaking terms with the man. Now wasn’t the time to argue, though, not with the Hulk there to upset. Instead, he did begrudgingly acknowledge that it did kind of look like fireworks the way the bits of plaster, wood, brick, and even metal rained down on the Hulk’s body. They didn’t speak after that, just watched together as the Hulk worked. It took a frighteningly short time for the entire building to begin to collapse on itself. The Hulk was quick to leap right into the wreckage and start to toss girders here and there.

“Oh, he is going to sleep SO well tonight.” Tony grinned and waited a bit longer until the Hulk finally seemed bored with the chaos he was causing. “You all finished there, big fella?”

The hulk crawled out of the wreckage and shook dust off his body much like a dog who just got a bath would, and then nodded at Tony, though Steve could see he looked almost grumbly about it.

“You gonna let Bruce back, now? I’m kinda missing him, and you don’t like my kisses nearly as much.”

Steve swore he saw the Hulk make a “gross” face then grumble more.

“Not let me protect him,” came the deep gravelly reply which had Steve staring.

“You gotta give him time, remember? He let you out when he knew it was time, didn’t he? You and I both know you’ll always protect him, but he’s gonna need more time to accept that. I’m working on it, I promise.”

The Hulk grunted and Steve was flabbergasted at the entire scene he had just witnessed, then more so when he saw the green on the hulk start to fade. He started to shrink down slowly, his muscles un-bulging, and slowly he was looking more and more like Bruce until finally the man was back with them, looking nearly unconscious with exhaustion. Tony was quick to grab onto him, ignoring the fact that the stretched out pants the Hulk had been wearing have given their all and he was now supporting a bruised and naked Bruce against his own person.

“There’s my guy,” Tony spoke softly and cradled the back of Bruce’s neck tenderly.

“Nnn… hey.” Bruce’s voice was softer than usual, more tired. Even still, he tilted his head towards Tony’s and then Steve watched and felt a sense of relief as they exchanged a deep kiss. Anger or not, it made him feel like this was actually over and Bruce was really ok. It was brief, but Bruce seemed to come back to himself more from it, carefully pushing up to stand on his own shaky legs.

“Uh… do you have…”

“Of course.” Tony set his case down onto a pile of rubble and flicked it open. The only contents inside were a pair of pants, a shirt, and a glasses case. Tony helped Bruce dress carefully, and Steve watched quietly, not wanting to interfere, When fresh glasses were settled onto the bridge of his nose, Bruce looked over at him and smiled.

“Hey.”  
Steve paused then nodded a little. “Hey.”

 

Tony rolled his eyes at them both. “You going to stand over there and stare, or come get in on some cuddles?”


	18. Chapter 18

The sound of Tony’s cell phone going off interrupted them, its tune of “Iron Man,” a song that Steve was surprised to find out hadn’t actually been written for Tony, blared loudly, signifying that it was someone from the team calling. Steve was grateful for the interruption and averted his gaze from the other two men as Tony took the call. It turned out that their little show hadn’t been missed, and the jet was on its way to pick them up, hopefully before too many media outlets found their way there. Tony was quick to cheerfully point out that at least if they did come, Bruce would have pants on this time, which made the other man groan and bury his face in his hands in embarrassment. Tony had just grinned wolfishly at him, his earlier hints towards self-destruction vanished now that he had some of his grounding back. Tony winked at Steve as if he was in on the joke, but Steve didn’t return the look. Tony looked a little confused at his coldness, but by then the jet was trailing overhead and they had to make their way to the closest open landing space.

Steve didn’t speak unless spoken to the rest of the way back. Everyone was too elated at the discovery of Bruce to notice. Thor was proclaiming his desire to end Justin Hammer, Natasha was quietly updating SHIELD, Clint was sulking just slightly at not getting to use his new bow even a little, and Tony was sitting beside Bruce with his feet propped up casually. Steve watched as Bruce neatly devoured an entire can of peanuts that had been on the jet. Turned out Mr. Hammer thought feeding a “beast” that wouldn’t perform the tricks he wanted wasn’t very useful. Thank goodness they had found him so fast. Bruce hadn’t been gone long, but that coupled with bringing out the Hulk had him starving. He was grilled with questions as he ate, and Steve watched as the humble man answered them to the best of his knowledge. While they were filled in on the gaps of his story, Bruce would occasionally glance over to Steve who would always find that to be the right opportunity to stand and stretch or find something else to do. Eventually, they were back at the tower and to Bruce shying away from all of the attention.

“I’m really ok, my injuries aren’t severe. I should know, I’m the doctor, remember?” He smiled at him, that little self-deprecating smile that tried to convey that they should all move along, there was nothing really to see here. Tony was never one to stand for it, though.

“No way, I’ll play doctor if I have to… actually that sounds pretty fun. Come on, Steve, you can be my naughty nurse.”

Clint snickered and Steve was about to argue, but then he saw the way Bruce was leaning heavily on Tony, and the way Tony’s legs had a slight tremor in them from what had to be his lack of sleep and the still lingering effects of alcohol and over-caffeinating. He tried to ignore the curious looks he got from the others as he walked over and carefully looped his arm around Bruce’s waist.

“I got you, Doctor. Don’t worry.” Steve helped Bruce, and perhaps by proxy Tony, walk into the tower.

Bruce merely murmured a soft thank you then groaned out in protest by the time he was lowered carefully into bed. Steve glanced around the bedroom. It’d been a while since he’d been in it, but it looked just like how he remembered. He tried to slide his arm out from under Bruce, but a warm hand reached up and latched onto his arm.  
“Stay here for now.”

He couldn’t say no, not when he looked down at Bruce’s face and saw it mottled with bruises that hid only so well underneath a day’s worth of stubble. He lowered himself carefully onto the bed beside Bruce and felt himself being wrapped up in his arms. There was a slight dip in the bed behind him, Tony, and then there were more arms until he was spooned, cocooned really, between them. It only took a moment for Tony to fall asleep behind him; he could feel the even breathing against the back of his neck. He wished Bruce would follow, but even with his own eyes closed Steve could tell Bruce was watching him. Finally, he opened his eyes and his suspicions were confirmed as he was looking right into Bruce’s.

“What’s wrong, puppy?” Bruce traced his fingers across Steve’s throat, seeming to need the touch at the moment.

Steve wasn’t sure where to even begin with what was wrong. The night before, with Tony’s adamant non-understanding of boundaries, how in the middle of a hostile situation he, Captain America, had been ordered to stand down, or how he’d followed that order to a T. It seemed impossible to even begin to explain so he just shrugged noncommittally.

“Steve you seem—”

“He ordered me not to help them.” He felt himself blurting it out before he could stop it.

Bruce’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Steve explained, trying to be kind about it because he had been trying to defend people from BRUCE, after all.

“He was trying to protect you, Steve,” Bruce said softly even though his face looked troubled. And Steve knew that; it didn’t help. It didn’t mean that he hadn’t been weak when it mattered most. “He shouldn’t have done that, not like that, no. It was wrong, and you have every right to be angry over it.”

“I know he was trying to protect me, that’s not the point! He ORDERED me, and I listened.” Steve could hear the fear in his voice but he couldn’t stop himself, now. “I can’t do that. I have to be the leader. I can’t drop everything if Tony gives me an order.

“Are you more angry at Tony right now, or yourself?”

Steve sat up abruptly at that. “I’m angry because he said it didn’t matter, Bruce! That it didn’t matter if it was a mission or not, and then he ordered me around!”

He bit back more as their sudden movement had startled Tony awake.

“Nmmph… hey, what?”

“He’s upset.” Bruce slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, his jaw clenched slightly to hold back a wince and, well, that just made Steve feel terrible to have been the cause for it. “And it sounds like he has quite a right to be, Tony.”

“I’m fine, Bruce. Please rest, you need it.”

Bruce rubbed a hand over his face and leaned back against the headboard. “I’m fine. We clearly need to talk.”

“What’s he got to be upset about?” Tony sounded grumpy from being woken, and Steve stared at him with incredulity.

“You really don’t even know, do you? You don’t even get it.”

“Oh. That. Knew that would come back to bite me in my amazing ass.”

“You can’t just do that, Tony! You can’t just give me orders like that in the middle of a mission then make jokes about it.”

“Well why the hell not? You give us orders all the time.”

“And you at least have a choice of not following them!” He stood up off the bed then, pacing. His stomach was clenched up tight with anxiety.

“And you were going to do something stupid! You don’t have the same understanding I do with the Hulk. I didn’t want you getting tossed around like a bag of kibbles and bits.”

Steve glanced over at Bruce at that, who nodded slightly in agreement.  
“The Hulk… He doesn’t ever try to hurt Tony. I don’t understand it, but he’s right about that, only that,” he added pointedly.

“It’s because we’re rage bros,” Tony grinned.

“Stop making jokes! How can you know that, you’ve only had once incident since the two of you met.”

He looked at them both as they exchanged meaningful glances. “How many times has the Hulk come out since then?” he asked.

“Three, or was it four? No, definitely three.” Tony hopped up off the bed, walking a circle around Steve who could see that the scientist was now fully awake in that ‘too jittery to not be up’ type way that he’d seen him get once or twice since he’d been there. “And you know what? It was brilliant each time to see it happen. Like I’ve been saying from the start, why shouldn’t the big guy get to blow off some steam? I take him out to the desserts, bring some old machinery that’s useless now, and I let him go fucking ape shit, Steve, and it’s amazing.”

“Bruce how can you—”

“It helps, Steve.” Bruce didn’t look at him as he said it, studying a bruise on his hand instead. “It helps more than just trying to hold it inside all of the time until it just bursts ever did. That building fury I feel up inside? It’s not like trying to stop an impossible flood with a rage damn anymore, Steve. It’s like lancing it. It drains it all out and, fuck. I need it, ok? I really do.” Steve could see him gritting his teeth, his shoulders so tense at admitting how badly he needed to be able to let out the monster inside of him.

“Leave him alone, Steve.” Tony stopped in front of him to glare, and there was a protective flash in his eyes. “Just because you’d love to be able to spend the rest of your life repressing and bottling up every naughty feel-good inside of you doesn’t mean that he has to.”

“Repressing?” he asked angrily. “How can you even say that? I’ve done so much with you, so much with both of you, things that I would never have done before, but when I say no to something you just have to go and push and needle at it, because no one gets to say no to Tony Stark!”

“Not when their reasons for saying no are because they’re a repressed little bi-boy who desperately needs to get himself stuck hard but is so stuck up on 1940’s moralistic bullshit that he’s too scared to do it.” Tony practically snarled and Steve growled in response, shoving him out of his face and back onto the bed.

“Steve, Tony!” Bruce stared at them. “This needs to stop, we need to calm down and talk.”

“I can’t, Bruce, I just can’t.” Steve looked at him desperately, ignoring all of the emotions that were churning up inside of him. “I can’t do this, I can’t BE this. I can’t be here, not if he can’t understand.”

Tony sat up quickly at that. “Steve—”

“No. I have to go.”

So he left.


	19. Chapter 19

He’d ridden for days on end, until he felt he really was finally out of SHIELD’S watchful eye. Then he crashed down on a motel bed and he cried. Not for them. For losing Bucky, for never getting his dance with Peggy, for everything he ever knew changing in the blink of an eye, for losing sight of everything, all of the things he’d never let himself shed a tear over, he lost into a scratchy cheap pillowcase. Then he picked himself up, cleaned up and he rode more, and he kept riding, and might have kept riding for forever.

The letters came in at almost every stop. He didn’t know how they knew where he was going, but they always arrived at his motel in a perfect, crisp envelope. He’d collected them with a quiet thank you each time, and tucked them into his pack unopened. Finally, a few weeks in, he opened them while sitting on his bed of the night.

Most were from Bruce, in tiny scratching print. It was hard to read, but the fact that they were handwritten letters was touching. The first explained that letters seemed like the best way to go since Steve wouldn’t have to worry about cell service and could read them at his leisure. They were about everything; life, the weather, what he was currently working on, the team, Bruce seemed to be having a full on one-sided conversation, like Steve was his pen pal.

Three were from Pepper. Her handwriting was perfect and precise, and it made him smile. The first letter apologized for Tony, which made him roll his eyes. He had the feeling she had to do that a lot. Surprisingly, it also had contained a plane ticket to Japan, for if he wanted to join her, the letter said. He’d been surprised and touched by the offer. The letter had concluded with:  
\-----  
“The thing you have to realize about Tony is that he is a genius and an absolute jerk. He might never understand your emotions, or his own, fully, and you are by no means required to stick around and wait for him to figure them out. But if you do, I think you might like the results. I did.”  
\-----  
He’d sighed at that and read the rest, all lovely, funny, entertaining and smart; Pepper Potts to the core.

Finally, there were two from Tony. One angry, complaining letter from Tony, about how Bruce wasn’t letting him call even though he knew he had given Steve a phone, which then rambled on angrily for about two pages. He glanced over that part, and then at the end in scribbled smudged pencil, looking like it’d been partially erased but then left was:  
\------  
“Fuck it. Fuck it, ok? I was scared. I’m sorry.”  
\------  
It was hard not to pick up the phone after that one. Tony was never sorry, and he was absolutely never sorry in writing. It was harder to stay angry. Tony had been wrong, and he wouldn’t let him order him around during a battle ever again, even if it took earplugs or disconnecting their coms to do it. He knew what fear did to people, though, especially when they were scared of someone getting hurt. When he opened the second letter, it was cordial, typed even, no mention of the first. It simply informed him that he was owed back pay for assisting in the lab with testing. With it there was a sleek looking credit card in his name:

\-----  
“Use as needed, Captain Rogers.”  
\-----  
He was tempted to buy a new bike with it.  
Instead, he’d tucked it away into his wallet and kept the first letter, even the angry pages. In that letter was the essence of Tony Stark. Layers and layers of bullshit and then, if you waited till the end, you finally got to how he really felt. It felt wrong to throw it away.

He decided not to call, but he sent off a letter of his own. It was only one line; he didn’t need to pile things on top of what he meant.

\-----  
“I forgive you. I’m just not sure I can come home, yet.”  
\-----  
He’d meant it. He did forgive him, it was Tony. Tony was phenomenally bad at emotions. If he ever went back, he would have to lay down the law with him, make it clear that everything that had happened was firmly on the red “never EVER” list. That would be a while away, though; he’d wanted more time to cool off.

Except now Tony had called him, and everything that happened is playing over and over again in his head as he lies out on the bed; all of the good, all of the bad. The safety, the uncertainty, the warmth, the angry words exchanged, and the deep need he now feels inside himself and is maybe starting to understand. Now he can’t keep them out of his mind. Going back means home, the best home he’s ever had. He’s still angry, though. Tony still makes him so angry that sometimes he feels like he could just punch him. He is pretty sure he isn’t the only one who feels like that.

The phone rings again. This time Steve hears it right away, though the bedside table slightly muffles its shrill song. He wants to ignore it and decides he will, right up to the point where he’s putting it against his ear and answering it. He can just tell them no. He can just tell them to stop calling unless it’s a team emergency.

“Steve.”

Steve’s heart certainly doesn’t tighten just at hearing Bruce softly saying his name.

“What?” And if his voice sounds a little choked, certainly that can be blamed on a bad connection.

“We missed you. I’m sorry if Tony upset you earlier, we just wanted to call and tell you happy birthday; it felt more personal.”

Birthday? Steve vaguely remembers seeing some children shooting off fireworks in the motel parking lot. Of course Bruce would remember his birthday even if Steve didn’t.

“Thank you.” He tries to keep his voice careful, level.

“Do you need anything?”

“I…” He bites sharply into his bottom lip, presses his hand tightly against his face, and doesn’t want to be in this motel anymore. He just can't. It hurts too much, he's too tired and sore and he knows just how Bruce would feel if he were here wrapping his arms around him and letting Steve sink into his hold. How Tony would rub a hand down his back soothingly even while he teased him for being such a silly pup for running away, and how Pepper would scold Tony as soon as she found out he was teasing Steve. So he’s nodding desperately and when there’s no response he realizes that nods don’t translate well over cell phones, so he’s saying yes instead, hearing and ignoring how small and tired his voice sounds.

“What do you need?” The voice is so patient and calm and it takes Steve more than a moment to realize it wasn’t actually Bruce who asked it but Tony, and he feels a lump building in his throat.

“Tony, I’m sor—”

“YOU'RE sorry?” There’s disbelief in his voice now. “Fuck, save it. Tell us what you need.”

“I need to come home,” he forces the words out before they are lost forever. “Please, I need you, can I come home?”

“Are you sure? I don’t… did you read the stupid letter?”

Steve laughs. “Yes, I kept it, and I’m framing it and maybe making you keep it in your office. Didn’t you read mine? I forgive you. You ever do that again and I won’t, though. I mean it.”

“Seems fair. Can we scratch it out? I’d like to pretend the entire thing didn’t happen, honestly; chalk it up to sleep deprivation and caffeine nerves.”

“I’d be more inclined to do that if it wasn’t your normal state of being, Tony… I mean it. I want to forget this, but if it happens again, I’m not coming back.”

The long pause over the phone worries Steve for a moment.

“I do it again, I want you to fucking sick the Hulk on me, got it? I’m suiting up.” Steve can hear the sound of Tony handing the phone over to Bruce then apparently the connection is transferred to Tony’s suit, as well, because his voice takes on that slight echo that it does when he is talking with his helmet on. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes or less, or I’m free. We can have that scuffed up little scooter of yours shipped back.”

“I’m—”

“Like we don’t know exactly where you are, pup. Stay on the line with us, have a chat with Bruce.”

“You should have seen how fast he just took off, Steve. Pretty sure he took the feathers off a pigeon or two.” He could hear Bruce’s quiet chuckle over the phone and it makes the corners of Steve’s lips tug up into a smile.

“How did you know where I was the whole time?” Steve asks curiously.

“The cell phone has a tracer on it; Tony’s idea. We wanted to give you space but, well, we’ve had enough people kidnapped that we wanted some way to be able to find you if needed, and we wanted to be able to pick you up easily when you were ready.”

“You never had any doubts that I would—”

“Want to come home to see our handsome mugs? Not a single doubt.” There was Tony’s bold faced lie and even that was music to Steve’s ears. “Now, did you miss us, hmm?”

Steve closes his eyes and lets out a tired sounding breath. “Yeah, yeah, I really missed you, you jerk.”

“We missed you, too, pup. Wanna show us just how much you missed us?” Steve can hear the seductive tease in Tony’s voice and it makes him curious.

“How?”

“Depends, are we really back to where we were? Is it ok if I give you some orders?”

Steve’s manhood practically twitches at the notion. Apparently it is quite ready to forgive and forget, as well. “This isn’t the battlefield, Tony. Order away, anything on the green list goes.” He thinks about it a moment. “Nothing too extreme, ok?”

“Anything you want, Steve. Put the phone on speaker and prop it up beside the bed. That’s an order, pup, unless you have any real objections?” Tony’s voice is firm, but there is leeway there, the opportunity for an out if this is too much too soon.

It isn’t. When Steve hears the order, he scrambles to obey. It takes more than a few moments of guidance from Bruce and some button pushing, but he is able to figure out speaker phone and quickly props up the phone on the little bedside table.

“Got it, I think?”

“Yeah, there we go. Now rub one out while we listen.”

“Rub one— Tony!” Steve reddens as he realizes what Tony meant.

“Well I’m not there to do it, and we’ve missed hearing you pup, haven’t we, Bruce?”

“Very much so, you always sound so good,” Bruce agrees. “It’s the way the sounds escape, even when he’s trying to bite his lip to keep them in.”

Tony laughs, “I think that just makes it worse for him. Those soft little lips LIKE being bitten. Maybe you could help him out, Bruce, make him feel more comfortable. Show him your bedside manner.”

Steve starts to bite his lip but catches himself and stops; there’s no reason to give them fuel for the fire.

“I suppose I could play doctor.” Bruce’s voice has that soft tease to it now, too. Tony’s might have it often, but for Bruce it only seems to happen when he’s decided he wants to rub his hands all over one of them. It makes Steve shiver slightly and wish that he was home even more. “Slide your shirt up, puppy. Don’t take it off, though, just high enough so that your nipples are showing, hmm?”

Steve swallows heavily and closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to watch or blush too badly when he obeys the instruction. The room is chilled by a leaky air conditioning unit so there’s a slight shock of coolness when he bunches the shirt up to expose his torso.

“Ok, it’s up.”

“Good boy. Now I want you to run your hands over yourself, just like me or Tony would. Touch yourself just like you know we’re going to when we get you back home and into our bed.”

“And describe it.” Steve can hear the eagerness in Tony’s tone. “Describe every little thing you’re doing.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “I don’t know how good I’ll be at that.”

“Don’t overthink it, Steve. What’s the first thing I would do if I was there?”

Steve only has to think for a moment and answers hesitantly, “My stomach, you’d touch my stomach, Bruce.”

“I would. So touch it for me, just how I would do it.”

He nods to himself, resting his palm against the ripple of his abdomen then tracing his thumb lightly between the curves of the muscles there. It feels strange; he’s explored his own body before, quite often right after the serum, with pokes and prods, but never with the intimate strokes he is smoothing over himself now. The touch makes a warmness pool in his stomach. A few moments pass and Steve wonders if the two are listening to his breathing.

“Does it feel nice?” Bruce finally asks gently.

“It feels… funny. I’m not used to rubbing my own belly like this. It’s not you, but, it’s nice still.”

“Good, now what would Tony do?”

“I don’t… know.”

Tony is quick to call him on it, “Oh, you naughty little liar. I thought Captain America stood for honesty and truth?”

“My nipples, jerk,” Steve blurts out then has to smile softly at being called out on his own fib. His right hand darts up to his chest and thumbs lightly over the pebbling flesh there. Like his stomach, it feels unusual to be doing this himself, but good still. He can feel himself tenting in his pants and when he twists his fingers sharply against one of his nubs, just like Tony would, he can’t help letting out a pleasured sigh and arching his chest into it.

“You sound so nice, puppy, I wish you were here right now.” Steve’s ears barely pick up on the sound of a zipper and then Bruce is letting out a sigh that matches his own.

“Are you—” Steve can’t help asking.

“Fuck, who wouldn’t? If I wasn’t in the suit I would be doing the same. Hmm, Jarvis, note, make this possible in the next suit design.”

Steve groans softly and he can feel another twitch of excitement in his pants. His tongue dips out to wet his lips in anticipation, the groan turns into a frustrated one when he realizes that Bruce is nowhere near him and he has nothing to put into his mouth. He knows rationally that he really shouldn’t be that well trained that he automatically associates pleasure with having one of them in his mouth, but now is not the time to care.

“Suck your fingers. Pretend it’s me.” Bruce’s voice is softer now, but there’s just as much of a command there. Steve quickly brings up to his lips the hand that had been still tracing over his stomach, and slides a pair of fingers into his own mouth, sucking at them wetly.

It’s not the same, but it seems to satisfy some deeper itch inside of him so he continues to work them around, running his tongue over them and slurping softly as he continues to toy with his chest. He feels himself getting overheated quickly even in the cool room, and his legs kick listlessly at the comforter under him as he works himself over for them. He can hear Bruce moaning more now, and he knows that Bruce can hear every time he slurps around his own digits, or when he can’t hold back a little pleasured whine as he pinches his chest in just the right spot that Tony had once found on him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hears the door being opened and he can’t help but wonder how Tony had finagled an extra key from the lady at the front desk.

“Fucking Christ, look at you.” Steve can hear the awed arousal in Tony’s voice and his eyes flick open to see him standing in the doorway, suit fully on save for his helmet which is tucked under his arm, and Steve can practically feel himself being devoured by Tony’s stare. He starts to slide his fingers from his mouth to say something.

“Stop,” Tony practically barks the order. “Don’t even think about stopping anything that you’re doing right now, pup.” He strides over and picks up the phone from the table. “I’ve got him Bruce, and so will you in a moment. Say cheese.”

Steve watches as Tony aims the phone at him, and he may have been born before their invention but he’s seen them enough to know what a camera phone is. His eyes widen as he hears the fake sound of a shutter snap and a few moments later he can hear Bruce groan softly over the speakerphone. “You look so beautiful like that, Steve.”

Tony keeps snapping pictures and Steve feels himself flushing in mortification even as he continues to tease himself; this just gets Tony grinning. “You can’t even help yourself right now, can you, pup? I can see just how hard you are. Fuck, maybe I’ll make it my phone’s background pic.”

Tony laughs when Steve feels himself get even redder. “I can’t even tell if that red means you’re more turned on by that or embarrassed. Shit, I bet you don’t even know anymore, do you?” Steve whines softly and knows he’s giving Tony a pleading look but he can’t help it. At least it’s making the other man finally set the phone down and contemplate him.

“You want me to touch you, don’t you, Steve?”

Steve nods with a quick jerk of his head.

“Well, I can tell you now, touching your delicate parts in a metal super strength suit? Probably not the best idea either of us have ever had. And this thing is a pain in the ass to get out of without my machines. Hey now, no need to whimper. You’ll just have to do the touching for me, won’t you?”

Another quick nod. He would talk, but he has been ordered not to stop and it’s very rude to talk with your mouth full.

“Whip it out. Let me actually see it for once. You know how crazy it’s been driving me that Bruce has gotten a chance to see you in the bath and I haven’t even gotten a peek?”

It hadn’t really occurred to Steve that Tony hadn’t actually seen him completely naked. They’d done so much and the man had cameras everywhere in the house, so if he really wanted to he could have gotten a ‘peek’ whenever he wanted. Steve had just assumed that had been the case. It was making him feel more nervous now, like he was presenting something to be evaluated by Tony. His hand leaves his chest and he fumbles first with his button, then one handedly with the zipper of his pants until his fingers catch on the tiny clasp and he pulls it down.

Tony’s gloved hand reaches down and grabs Steve’s pants and the hem of his underwear, giving a firm yank. Steve barely registers the slight tearing sound as he rocks his hips up off the bed to help Tony yank both garments down to bunch around his ankles so he’s exposed, completely, even without having really fully taken off a single piece of clothing.

Tony’s voice sounds slightly strained as he stares at him. “I’ve never actually had a reason to hate my suit until now. God, you are so fucking gorgeous, Steve. I just want to touch you everywhere.”

“Tony.” Bruce’s voice comes from the phone with a slight impatient tone to it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, we talk about it later, but fuck.” Tony is still staring at him, his eyes keep moving up and down his body, clearly taking in the way Steve is still sucking noisily on the fingers in his mouth and how his erection is up flush against his belly.

“Patience, and send me some pictures right now.”

“Now who’s the impatient one?” Tony chuckles as he picks the phone again. Steve’s eyes widen and he puts his hand up frantically for him to wait, finally releasing his fingers from his mouth.

“What if someone sees them?”

“That's the idea, Bruce would like to see it, and they’re safe on our tech.”

“You can’t know—” Steve stops, because Tony really can know. Tony is the only person he can really rely on not to let that kind of digital information slip into the wrong hands. He has proven time and time again that his own network and tech is much more secure than SHIELD’s can ever hope to be. “You better not get drunk and show them off,” he finally grumbles and settles back.

“You’re better off hoping I don’t get drunk one night and show you off personally. There’s clubs for that.” Tony smirks. “Now put those fingers back in your mouth, I wanna send Bruce something real nice.”

He slides his dampened fingers back between his lips and, knowing that this is for Bruce, makes himself look up to look up at the camera. There’s a click and silence then he can hear Bruce’s voice sounding so smooth and deep, “Touch it, puppy. Touch it right now.”

He whimpers and wraps his hand around himself. He hears the repeated click of the shutter snap in the background, but he can’t think about showing off for it. This isn’t sensual posing for Bruce anymore, this is pure need. He sucks and jerks his hips up into his hand; the dry rub is slightly too much, but he feels his own fluids, precome, his mind reminds him hazily of the word Bruce had used to explain it to him when he’d felt brave enough to ask. And they’re leaking down, making it smoother for him, easier for him to rub faster, squeeze around himself harder, until he’s shouting and arching his back and there’s one last click of the camera as he feels himself spilling out into his hand.

He pants, and Tony laughs which he knows should be something to annoy him but he’s basking in the glow, so to speak, after not having had the pleasure of release in months.

“You call that jerking off? That was like watching a puppy slobber all over himself in excitement. We’ve gotta teach you to have some finesse to it, Steve. Ten extra points for totally getting Bruce off, though. We’ll mark phone sex off your check list.”

“Tony… shut up,” Steve groans out, hearing Tony simply laugh more so he tosses a pillow in his direction

“Sorry, pup, I’ll leave you to your post-orgasmic bliss.”

Steve just hums lightly in appreciation. After a few moments, he cracks an eyelid open and sees Tony is packing up a few little things he’d left out into his suitcase.

“You ready to come home?”

He is definitely ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnddd end section one of this verse. Next section (when I actually finish writing it) will actually get around to explaining what is happening to poor Steve in regards to the mind control is under. It was supposed to be resolved this section but this fic kind of ran away from me and this felt like the best place to stop this story. Thank you all for reading!


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